After the recent announcement about the future of My.Netscape, there have been a number of questions posed to our feedback channels. We thought it best to assemble answers to as many of the questions as possible in a Q&A format. Without further ado:

Question: I still use Netscape 7.0, 7.1 or 7.2. Will the change on September 1st affect Mail and newsgroups, address book, download manager and password manager?

Answer: The change on September 1st relates to the My.Netscape service. Netscape 7 browser features listed above are not reliant on My.Netscape to operate. However, please note that official support for Netscape browsers has ended.

Question: I still use Netscape 7 (or Netscape 8, or Flock) - where can I go to find my @netscape.net e-mail, given the upcoming changes to My.Netscape?

Answer: Netscape mail can still be found at: http://mail.netscape.com

Question: I am using Netscape as my browser on Windows 98. What will I need to do on September 1st about e-mail?

Answer: Netscape recommends Flock and Firefox browsers for all those wanting a current web browsing experience. Netscape mail can be and will be found at: http://mail.netscape.com

Question: I switched to Flock when official support ended for the Netscape Browser. What will I have to do on September 1st?

Answer: Flock will continue to operate after September 1st. If you have saved preferences with the My.Netscape service, you will need to find a new provider for things such as stock portfolios or bookmarks.

Question: I am using Netscape 7 (or Netscape 8, or Flock, or Firefox) - will my My.Netscape bookmarks be transferred as Favorites in my browser?

Answer: No, My.Netscape bookmarks are not automatically transferred to your browser. You will need to re-enter your bookmarks with a new service.

Question: Will this move require me to sign up with AOL?

Answer: No, Netscape.aol.com can be viewed without having to sign into AOL.

Question: Will Netscape.aol.com allow me to customize the content on my page, the way My.Netscape did?

Answer: My.Netscape is what is known as a "personalized start page," which Netscape.aol.com is not. Other start pages include My Yahoo and Netvibes. To customize the content on your page, you will need to migrate to another service.

Question: Will I still be able to use my @netscape.net e-mail address after September 1st?

Answer: Yes. Netscape mail will still be available at: http://mail.netscape.com as before. You will not need to change your e-mail address because of the changes to My.Netscape.

Question: What will happen with the portfolios I set up on My.Netscape after September 1st?

Answer: You will need to recreate your portfolio information on another service. My.Netscape is what is known as a "personalized start page".

Question: After September 1st, what will become of the bookmarks I created on My.Netscape? Will they be imported to http://netscape.aol.com, or somewhere else?

Answer: Bookmarks will not be automatically imported to another service. Please take this time to migrate your bookmarks to a new provider of your choice.

Question: How do I migrate My.Netscape to a new provider?

Answer: There is no automatic way to do this. You would need to sign up for an account at a new provider and then use that service to re-enter any preference information you had on My.Netscape. It is strongly recommended that you do this before September 1st, while My.Netscape is still available to refer to.

Question: Does this mean that the Netscape ISP (also known as Netscape Connect, or Walmart Connect) is shutting down?

Answer: No. The Netscape ISP (Internet Service Provider) will continue to operate, and be unaffected by the changes to My.Netscape. The Netscape ISP service line is 1-866-541-8233.

Question: I'm using an older system and would like a recommendation for a new service that would work with my system.

Answer: We're sorry, we are unable to provide any specific recommendations for a new service to use after My.Netscape.

Question: Does this affect me using the Netscape Browser?

Answer: Yes, official support for the Netscape Browser has ended.

Question: When My.Netscape switches to Netscape.aol.com on September 1st, will Netscape.aol.com be a free service, or will there be a fee to access it?

Answer: Netscape.aol.com will continue to be a free service.

We are trying to make your migration to Netscape.aol.com as seamless as possible and are hoping this answers your questions. If not, feel free to send us your question at my-feedback@newnetscape.com and we'll see if we can answer it.

Thanks,
The My.Netscape Team

In Netscape 9, we've built upon Firefox's option to load a bookmark in the sidebar by extending sidebar browsing to all links. (Right click on any link and choose "Open Link in Sidebar;" you can also drag and drop a link onto the sidebar if it is already open.)

In order to properly support this feature, we've enhanced the sidebar browser by adding a navigation menu, address bar, and link target toggle. The default link target is to have all links clicked in the sidebar launch in the main browser window, which is best suited for a single webpage that has lots of outgoing links (like your My.Netscape page, example shown below). You can also choose to toggle this and just browse in the sidebar as if it was a regular browser window.


My.Netscape in the sidebar; click to view the full image.

The sidebar browser can be opened with a toolbar button, a hot-key combination, or via the View > Sidebar menu.

We are continually reading through your feedback, and thank each and every one who has contributed constructively. Today My.Netscape got a small feature update addressing some significant concerns in the portfolio and bookmarks sections.


First, you can finally add indexes to your portfolio just by editing the module preferences and changing "Show market summary" to yes.


We also added renamed capability to the bookmark list. Simply click the title and it will turn into a textbox, change the name and hit <ENTER> and your done.

These two large changes as well as a new liquid layout and a host of other bug fixes will hopefully solve a lot of the issues some of you have had.

Thanks for all of the wonderful feedback for the new My.Netscape. For those of you who sent us constructive suggestions, today is the day that you will see some of your wants come to life.

We have been working hard this last week to address as many concerns as we possibly could. Based on your feedback, we have updated several aspects of the portfolio module, and added a bookmarks module.

With portfolios (Figure 1), we have added new information to the module display which includes daily values as well as overall net worth.

Figure 1: My Portfolios module