Microsoft has confirmed speculations that the new Netscape 8.0 could disable Internet Explorer and restrict it from displaying XML-files. David Massy, a senior Microsoft program manager, in his web log, has written that users who have Netscape 8.0 and use Internet Explorer to visit an XML file or XML file with an XSLT transformation would see a blank page displayed instead of the original content on the page.
“We’ve just confirmed an issue that has started to be reported on newsgroups and forums that after installing Netscape 8.0 the XML rendering capabilities of Internet Explorer no longer work. That means that if you navigate in IE to an XML file such as an RSS feed or an XML file with an XSLT transformation applied then rather than seeing the data you are presented with a blank page,” Massy said on the blog. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a format used for keeping track of updates to Web sites.
Massy gave two options for rectifying the problem. One was uninstalling Netscape 8.0 and the other deleting the XML node from a Registry file called HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerPluginsExtension.
He, however, said the first was a better option. “Unfortunately if Netscape 8.0 remains installed then the registry key is continually rewritten so this is an essential step if you are to be able to view XML content in Internet Explorer,” he said.
However, AOL, who developed Netscape, said that the problem affects only some users. “This issue affects a very small number of users who visit sites that require that advanced technology,” said AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein.
The company said it would plug the hole soon and the Netscape software on users’ machines would be updated through auto-update. “We would not encourage people to uninstall or affect their browser settings. It’s a minor issue,” said Weinstein.
Netscape 8.0, which was released last week, has run into problems ever since its launch. Even though it was marketed as the ‘most secure browser ever’ more than 40 security holes were discovered in the software after its release.
