Navigator 9.0.0.3 has been released, bringing it up to par with Firefox 2.0.0.9. Blog post here; Propeller.com discussion here; download it here.

We released Navigator 9.0.0.1 this morning; blog post is here, Propeller.com discussion is here.

The final, official release of Netscape Navigator 9.0 is now available. The official blog post is here; the Propeller discussion is here.

This marks the end of a 4-month beta period for Navigator 9; I am not sorry to see it go. On to 9.something-thats-not-zero!

Release Candidate 1 of Netscape Navigator 9 is out. We took out the social integration, but we'll be releasing those parts as Propeller extensions.

Netscape Navigator 9 Beta 3 has been released. Read about it at the Netscape blog.

We released the second beta of Netscape Navigator 9 today. Much praise to Richard for taking the lead on development and the roadmap this round.

Kevin Rose's latest project, Pownce, has a glaring security problem on its front page. The JavaScript that Pownce uses in its login form can reveal your password in plain text on the screen. Here are the steps to reproduce the problem in Firefox:

1. Login to Pownce via http://www.pownce.com/. Allow Firefox to save your login information for next time, and then log out.

   

2. Navigate to http://www.pownce.com/ and type the first part of your username in the "Enter username..." box. Firefox will supply all of the matching usernames it remembers for this site. (So far, so good.)

   

3. Select your username and press return to have the browser autofill the rest of your information. Oh look, there's your Pownce password in plain view! I hope no one in the room was watching you login...

   

The method that Pownce is using to show the "Enter password..." prompt in the password field is the reason for this malfunction; browsers force all text in password fields to be hidden with asterisks, so if you want to show normal text in a password field like Pownce has chosen to, you have to do so in a non-standard way.

This bug affects Firefox and Netscape users who have JavaScript enabled, but it doesn't affect Safari users.

This link to the Navigator 9 download page was submitted to Digg around noon on Tuesday and received 10 diggs over the next 24 hours. A story about a Firefox-based browser release submitted by a top-100 Digger? That sounds like possible front-page material to me - why only 10 diggs? Maybe it's because the story was excluded from Digg's search results: it doesn't appear in results for netscape or navigator. Is it possible that it was buried, and that's why it's not in the regular results?

No, it doesn't appear in the search results for buried stories either. In fact, I can't find it at all by searching on Digg. Has Digg instituted some sort of double secret probation for stories it doesn't want its users finding?

Articles about the release of the Navigator 9 Beta have been all over the Web today. Here are the major ones that I've spotted:

Slashdot: First Peek at Netscape Navigator 9

Fark: Netscape releases a new browser. In other news, Netscape still makes a browser

456 Berea Street: Software Update Day

Pronet Advertising: Netscape Navigator 9 Released - The Social Browser Has Landed

Linux.com: Netscape releases Netscape Navigator 9 beta 1

Download Squad: Netscape Navigator 9 Beta 1 released

Webware: Hands-on with Netscape's new social browser

Mac Daily News: Netscape Navigator 9.0 beta 1 released

Beta News: Netscape Browser Becomes 'Navigator' Again

If you're running Netscape Navigator 9.0, type "about:mozilla" into the address bar to see the newest verse from the Book of Mozilla:

"And thus the Creator looked upon the beast reborn and saw that it was good. -- from The Book of Mozilla, 8:20"

A cookie goes to the first person who can identify the true meaning of the symbolism used therein.