It’s been a while since we’ve had any good news with regards to beleaguered internet bubble company, Netscape. Netscape, now owned by AOL, have recently announced what might be the beginning of a comeback. We heard last month that they would be releasing a new version of Netscape Navigator, once a strongly contender to Internet Explorer, presumably from the 1.7 branch of Mozilla. Now, we have news that Netscape intend to launch a ‘Desktop Navigator’.

As a user, I’m usually pretty sceptical about desktop programs like this, yet to say I was taken aback by its lack of spyware, AOL junk and pretty slick interface is an understatement! It’s described as being ‘A simple - FREE - way to have great search tools and daily information at your fingertips without having to go through multiple pages at multiple web sites.’ - pretty correct. As the screenshots below show, the UI is slick, and information is shown in an effective manner- that is to say not too ‘packed together’.

Notable features include Web Search (from Google), news and local weather, TV Schedule, Movie show times (Moviefone), Map quest Maps & Driving Directions, Personals, and Yellow and White Pages. I might add that some of these services are dependent on ZIP codes and thus the program is aimed mainly at US residents. However, I’m sure they will release international versions in the future.

Download: Netscape