[154] in sw-release-announce
Netscpae 6.2.x Release Effort Update and Testing
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lee Ridgway)
Wed May 29 11:50:10 2002
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Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 11:47:27 -0400
To: itpartners@MIT.EDU, macpartners@MIT.EDU, winpartners@MIT.EDU,
sw-release-announce@MIT.EDU
From: Lee Ridgway <ridgway@MIT.EDU>
Cc: infosys@MIT.EDU, itag@MIT.EDU, hd@MIT.EDU
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Date: May 29, 2002
To: itpartners@mit.edu, macpartners@mit.edu, winpartners@mit.edu,
sw-release-announce@mit.edu
Cc: infosys@mit.edu, itag@mit.edu, hd@mit.edu
From: Netscape Product Release Team
Re: Netscape 6.2.x Release Effort Update
Update
----------------------------
The Netscape Release Team continues its work with Netscape 6.2.x. In
addition to installers for Mac and Windows, work is proceeding to
integrate Netscape 6.2.x into the Athena environment for testing
through the infoagents locker. Since the release effort of 6.2.x
began in February, Netscape has released two subsequent versions of
6.2: 6.2.2, and most recently 6.2.3, which is being incorporated into
our custom installation. Version 6.2.3 fixes bugs in previous
versions of Netscape 6, including a security hole by which a server
could access files on a local drive through an XML document.
Creation of the customized installers for Macintosh and Windows
platforms, and initial release team testing revealed problems during
the upgrade process. Also, testing of 6.2.x by key web site
maintainers against their pages revealed several unanticipated
problems. These problems required further evalutation and have
delayed community testing.
Some of the problems uncovered to date::
-- Inconsistencies in user preferences being carried over from 4.78 to 6.2.x
-- MIT CA and personal certificates not picked up by 6.2.x
-- Helper app preferences not transferred
-- Inconsistencies in Messenger/Mail settings being carried over, and
some problems with mailboxes and address books
-- On Athena, differences in behavior of Netscape 6.2.x between
Solaris and Linux
-- 6.2.x not working properly with web pages and databases maintained
by some departments
Although 6.2.3 does present some problems, it also offers several
benefits over 4.78:
-- Better overall stability, with fewer crashes and freezes
-- Improved XML support
-- Improved JavaScript support
-- Significant interface enhancements
-- Improved online help from the vendor, especially for Mail
-- Reliable acquisition and use of new MIT certificates
-- Native to Mac OS X
Community Testing
-----------------------------
Community testing is set to commence on Thursday, May 30, and run
until Wednesday, June 12. Email will be sent to those currently on
the list of testers with instructions on how to get the Macintosh and
Windows installers, and the testing procedures. If others on
Macintosh or Windows are interested in testing, please send email to
Deb Bowser (bowser@mit.edu). Athena users interested in testing
6.2.x, please send email to Todd Belton (tbelton@mit.edu). We are
especially interested in finding testers for Netscape Mail on all
platforms.
Release Effort Status
----------------------------
Release of Netscape 6.2.3 to the general community, with MIT
customizations, is planned for later in June.
Because we foresee that some Netscape users in the community may need
to rely on the currently supported version, 4.78, at the time of
releasing 6.2.3 we will provide guidelines on why one should or
should not upgrade to 6.2.3. Installers for 4.78 will continue to be
available for some period of time.
For updates on the release effort status, go to the Netscape 6.2.x
Release Notebook at http://web.mit.edu/swrt/netscape.
The MIT certificate server has been set to issue certificates for
6.2.x; however, IS does not recommend that MIT users upgrade to 6.2.x
until it has been fully evaluated within the MIT environment.
Following release of Netscape 6.2.3, the Netscape Release Team will
monitor and conduct preliminary testing of Netscape 7 as it becomes
available from the vendor.
If you have questions or comment about the release effort, please
contact the Netscape Product Release Team at netscape-release@mit.edu.
Lee Ridgway
Netscape Product Release Coordinator
