Clinton -

You're quite correct that I haven't paid much attention to Netscape, and haven't used it for about 10 years when I was on a company network.

Most email accounts, however, do require a "secure login" to verify that you are the one authorized to look at your email. Your "profile" can do the steps required for verifying who you are, so that your email connection opens transparently; but that does not mean that a login hasn't happened. This is not a function of what browser, or email program, you use. It's an SOP for email accounts.

When your login is submitted and approved, your computer is "marked" to show that it belongs to the person who is authorized to access the account that you've logged into. This is usually done with a cookie deposited on your machine. (Not necessarily always in your "cookies" folder). As long as that "identifier" remains on your machine and active, you are that person and no other, at least for the site that verified your identity. To access a different email account on that site, you must "become another person" and the previous login has to be replaced by a new login transaction for you to do that. This is independent of what browser or other email program you use.

Many sites offer an option when you log in to "remember me" which may consist of "remember my username," or "remember my password," or both. If you log in with an inclusive one of these boxes checked, the "verification cookie" that's dropped on your machine is a "persistent cookie" rather than a temporary one. At *your next contact with the site, you normally will be passed directly to the account that's "remembered," without an opportunity to log in as a different user.

* Also at the next visit of anyone who's "captured" your persistent cookie, a rather small but real possibility. Your bank shouldn't even offer to remember your full id, but email accounts frequently do.

This condition usually can be cleared by deleting the cookie, if you can find it. If it's in the usual "cookies" folder, it shouldn't be too hard to find, but some - especially some secure - sites create an encrypted hidden folder for their own stuff. I would expect an email account cookie to be in the normal "cookies" folder.

Usually the "remember me" option is an offer from the site. You can also find some programs that can "offer this service" on your own machine independent of the site's rules and services. I would not expect Netscape to do this, but it could be a Netscape option.

Some sites, including some email services, use the "universal" PassPort logon. The theory is that you can log in with "PassPort" and for the duration of the session any site that uses the system will know that your identity has been confirmed, and normal site login can be bypassed. (Reputable sites may let you see "members only information" but should require a separate site-specific login for access to your personal information.) If your email service happens to use your "PassPort" login as your account access, opening your email will automatically log you into your PassPort account. The PassPort login is quite persistent, since it's intended to be portable from site-to-site. Both MSN and hotmail do this. I don't know how prevalent it is with other services.

John