New Flash infested Netscape.com portal beta disappoints

NOT HAPPY with leaving the "Netscape 7.2 Mail" software users in the dark by pursuing a browser-only "Netscape 8" to be based on Firefox instead of creating a 7.x browser update based on the upcoming Mozilla 1.8, the remnants of the company once known as Netscape Communications Corp. has embarked on a redesign of its flagship product, that is, the news portal that generates most of the revenue for the AOL division.

The company has started subtly showing a link on its front page dubbed "Netscape Broadband Sneak Peek", which takes users to a, "beta version" of the portal site apparently "optimized" for "broadband users". The netscape.com portal until now wasn't a wonderful thing, but at least it was bearable as a start-up page for us old-timer Netscape users, too lazy to do the right thing and change it to something better like TheInquirer.net (a link to which is in my personal toolbar, Ed.!). In my case it gave me a daily glimpse on what were the "stories of the day" in America, just like skimping USA Today headlines while passing by a news stand. In the end, what was once a well designed, visually attractive portal ended up as a mix of pop star news, movie news, CNN world headlines, and assorted ads, all mixed into a blender with easily reachable links to Netscape.com's more traditional services like Netscape Radio, the 250MB free Netscape Webmail, and the site's customisable news portal My Netscape.

Netscape.com in its current, DHTML shape, with only one Flash object.

So, interested to see what Netscape.com had to offer, I clicked on the link to the Netscape Portal Beta. I should have been warned it was a Link to Hell. What I saw immediately shocked me: everywhere I clicked it was Macromedia Flash content!

Yes, Netscape Broadband will apparently ditch HTML and DHTML (Netscape.com currently makes good use of it), and turn everything into a GIANT FLASH APPLET. "Who needs stinky HTML and DHTML when we can just do a full-screen HTML table and load a giant Flash applet inside?" seems to be the thought of the site's "modern", Macromedia loving webmasters.

The new Flash-only 'Netscape Broadband' beta portal, delivered as a single giant Flash object

To prove it wasn't a product of my imagination, I enabled Ted Mielczarek's "Flashblock" extension for the Mozilla and Netscape 7.2 browsers and re-loaded the page. I was right... except for the top banner with the logo, everything below is one giant flash applet.

Netscape Broadband beta, as seen with the Netscape 7.2 browser with the 'flashblock' extension loaded.

Well, I will put this in simple words: IT SUCKS. You can't right click on links to open those in a new browser tab (as every right click anywhere in the giant Flash applet only gets you to the Flash Plug-in context menu), and you can't email the page's headlines by using the Netscape 7.2 browser's function "email this web page". Try cutting and pasting a news story title from the giant flash applet as well. You'll soon be as mad and as disappointed as myself. Is this the latest trend in web design?. I hope not. There's something good out of this, after all... they didn't touch Netscape Webmail, apparently, which is still HTML-based.

Netscape Webmail, still html, thank the heavens!

The Netscape Mail program, part of the Netscape 7.2 suite, based on Mozilla

Why can't this company get back to their senses and learn from the guys at Google, for instance, they are able to use standard HTML, DHTML and Javascript to create innovative solutions that work across browsers, and without needing any plug-in. You can also track the evolution and involution of the Netscape.com portal over the years thanks to the Archive.org wayback machine. Perhaps the management should be locked in a room for a month with a computer which can only access Googgle News?. Maybe they'd learn a thing or two about flash-free web design.

If what AOL or the Netscape.com division management wanted to achieve with this move was to annoy current netscape.com visitors like myself, they have done an excellent job. In case you want to voice over your comments about this new concept of html-free, flash-only web sites to the AOL masterminds, here's a link or two.µ

See Also
The new Netscape.com Broadband Portal Beta
Macromedia Flash the only winner in the US election?
Netscape Webmail free accounts jump to 250MB
Netscape working on Firefox based browser
AOL limits free Netscape Radio listening