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Browsers

Rutgers supports Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla and Safari. However there are enough web pages that don't work with Mozilla and Safari that we recommend having either the most recent version of Netscape 4.7x or Internet Explorer (Mac version of Internet Explorer), whatever other browsers you may choose to have. Administrative users should have a working copy of Internet Explorer, even if they use another browser for most browsing. In particular, we recommened Internet Explorer for use with RIAS (the Rutgers Integrated Administrative System) and other Oracle-based applications. (Netscape 4.7x will work, but is often significantly slower. Safari will work, but you have to enable features that let it pretend to be Internet Explorer.)

Unfortunately there is no one ideal browser:

  • Despite progress with security in Microsoft tools, Netscape or Mozilla is probably still safer. This is particularly true if you read mail using your browser (which we recommend), since Outlook Express (the mail program that comes with Internet Explorer) has been more of a problem than Netscape mail.
  • There are still sites that don't support Netscape 6 or 7 (or Mozilla). Thus Netscape 6/7 users will probably want the most recent version of Netscape 4.7x, or Internet Explorer, in addition to Netscape 6/7/Mozilla. At this writing the most recent version of 4.7x is 4.8. See the Netscape archive download site, http://wp.netscape.com/download/archive.html for the current version. (The main Netscape download site has Netscape 7.)
  • Netscape users may also want a copy of Netscape 7, Mozilla, or one of the Mozilla-based browsers such as Firebird. These are a new generation of browser, which provide much better support for recent standards. Netscape 7 is available from the Netscape download site, http://www.netscape.com/download.
  • Mozilla is an open source project. Netscape 6 and 7 are based on Mozilla, with a few additional Netscape features. Mozilla's current release is normally slightly in advance of Netscape 7, although it will be missing a few features. See the Mozilla web site. Note that there are several projects using the same basic Mozilla engine. Windows users may prefer to use Firebird. Macintosh users may prefer to use Camino. These are listed on the Mozilla web site.
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer is also supported at Rutgers. For some administrative functions it is recommended. To download Internet Explorer, and to move to new versions, see the Internet Explorer web site.
  • For the Macintosh version of Internet Explorer, see the Mactopia Internet Explorer page. Note that development of Macintosh IE has been stopped, in favor of Apple's Safari. Users of OS X will certainly want to have a copy of Safari. However they should probably keep a copy of Internet Explorer, and possibly also Camino, for sites that don't yet work with Safari.
  • While Internet Explorer is available for Solaris and HP/UX, it does not appear to be keeping up with the Windows versions. Most Solaris (and Linux) users seem to be using Netscape, Mozilla, or one of the Mozilla-based browsers.

RIAS and other Oracle-based Applications

We recommend using Internet Explorer with RIAS (the Rutgers Integrated Administration System), if possible.
  • RIAS is significantly faster with Internet Explorer than Netscape
  • In testing, we have had serious problems getting RIAS to work with Netscape. Some users have succeeded, but others have not.
  • Even if Netscape works for most of the application, it is likely that some functions will work only with Internet Explorer
If you can't use Internet Explorer (e.g. because you are using Linux), we suggest using the most recent version of Netscape 4.7x. At this writing, it is 4.8. We have seen RIAS fail with 4.78 and succeed with a newly downloaded copy of 4.79. If you are on Unix or Linux, and RIAS doesn't work with your copy of Netscape (even 4.79), we recommend that you download a fresh copy of 4.8, install it into a new directory in its default configuration (i.e. no plugins other than what comes with the download), and run it from there. If that works, you can install additional plugins, etc.

RIAS will not work with Netscape 6, 7, or Mozilla. It will work with Safari. However you must enable the debugging menu, and set the User Agent string to Mac MSIE 5.2.2. (That is, you must configure Safari so it pretends to be Internet Explorer.) To enable the debugging menu, open a terminal window, make sure Safari is not running, and type

defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1
If the system opens a new window, you will need to set the User Agent string for that window.

Security and Updates

The major browsers all have security bugs. New bugs are being found all the time. Thus it is important to keep up to date with fixes.

For Netscape, fixes are obtained by moving to a new version of the browser. Thus Netscape users should visit the Netscape download site regularly, http://www.netscape.com/download.

For Internet Explorer, if you are using Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP, updates to Internet Explorer are included as part of Windows Update. All 98, ME, 2000 and XP users should be going to Windows Update regularly, or using the automatic update feature available with Windows XP.

For older versions of Windows, you should go regularly to the Internet Explorer web site. It lists software updates. Versions 5.01, 5.5 and 6 are currently being maintained. If you have an older version, we suggest updating to 5.5 or 6. The newest version is available from the Internet Explorer web site.

NOTE: We strongly recommend that all users upgrade from older versions of Windows to at least Windows 98. For normal desktop users, Windows XP is preferred. Despite the negative press, Windows XP has a number of useful security improvements. Windows ME is not well supported at Rutgers or other large institutions. Most sites moved directly from Windows 98 to 2000 or XP.

For the Macintosh, see the Mactopia Internet Explorer page.

While Internet Explorer is available for Solaris and HP/UX, it does not appear to be keeping up with the Windows versions. Most Solaris (and Linux) users seem to be using Netscape and/or Mozilla.

Creating Web Pages: Servers and Tools

Rutgers provides various services to help you prepare web pages, as well as systems you can use to serve web pages. See Creating Web Pages at Rutgers for details.


Please direct all questions regarding NBCS services to help@nbcs.rutgers.edu
Please direct all questions regarding this website to webmaster@nbcs.rutgers.edu
Last updated: May 23, 2005, 12:51 pm

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