Re: Netscape rewards are an insult

[Jeff Weinstein <jsw@netscape.com>]

Perry E. Metzger wrote:
> 
> Jeff Weinstein writes:
> > All of these security measures are implemented by Netscape in the
> > current release.  Specifically, Netscape Navigator 2.0beta2
> > includes all the applet security precautions detailed in the recent
> > comp.lang.java posting.  Netscape has been shipping the fixed
> > applet security model for over a month(since 2.0Beta1), and
> > Netscape and Sun continue to cooperate and work closely on applet
> > security issues.
> 
> I've got to note just one thing -- every Netscape 2.0beta2 I've used
> has been so full of bugs, and so prone to problems, that I have my
> wonders about what the security code looks like. I know, Jeff, that
> its all done by different groups -- but the Java stuff I've run in
> 2.0beta2 is so weirdly different than the supposedly compatible stuff
> I've run under HotJava -- especially when it comes to crashing (and it
> HAS crashed on me) that I have serious worries about the security of
> the thing. I'd say the quality looks very much like an alpha release,
> not "beta". I don't want to turn this to Javapunks so I won't say more
> on this topic any time soon -- its already been beaten into the
> ground.

  The version of Java in Netscape is not compatible with the version of
Java in the summer release of HotJava.  There were incompatible changes
made by Sun between their alpha(summer HotJava) and beta (Netscape 2.0
and Sun's JDK Beta).  As I understand the situation, applets that were
written for HotJava must be ported to the beta API for them to work
with more recent releases of Java.

  I would agree that Java is not as stable as the rest of the 2.0 release.
That is one reason why we have added a preference to disable Java.
If you are worried about it you can just switch it off.  I argued for
this switch because I knew that there would be people who would not
want to trust Java until it had some mileage on it.

  The early beta releases we do are mostly intended for developers and
early adopters who want early access to the new features.  We had a
great leap in quality between B1 and B2, and I expect that to continue
with the future betas.  

	--Jeff  

-- 
Jeff Weinstein - Electronic Munitions Specialist
Netscape Communication Corporation
jsw@netscape.com - http://home.netscape.com/people/jsw
Any opinions expressed above are mine.