NETSCAPE WINS THE 4.0 BROWSER RACE, FOR NOW!

After five preview releases Netscape finally released the Netscape Communicator around mid-June. On the very day of the release however, somebody found a bug in the security flow of the browser. One was disappointed. However, just two days later the company released 4.01 of the Communicator-a fully cured version. I downloaded the Standard Edition of the Communicator, which I believe was the right thing to do.
Remember, when browsers first appeared? They did little more than display the World Wide Web’s primitive text pages. But, today, the Web has matured. Browsers have grown into powerful pieces of software. While they do occupy a lot of space on the hard disk, it’s well worth it.
If you use the Web a lot, and especially if you depend on a corporate intranet or if you have plans to create an intranet across your enterprise, Netscape’s Communicator could be an important application on your computer.
The enhanced browser, called the Communicator, is available in two forms: the Standard and Professional edition, which are about 8MB and 15MB respectively and can be downloaded from HYPERLINK http://home.netscape.com.
There is no denying the fact that with Communicator, Netscape is attempting to recapture the leadership it relinquished to Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 last year. But the fact is that the Web pioneer will face a new challenge from IE 4.0 very soon.
New look
The heart of the package is still the familiar Navigator browser. Other major pieces include Messenger, which handles E-mail and postings to Internet or corporate discussion groups, and Composer, a simple Web page editor. Netcaster, which allows Web sites to “push” up dated material to desktops, is available in test form only, sol couldn’t form an opinion about its value.
The first thing you’ll notice when you fire up Communicator is that the general appearance of the program— which has changed little since the first version of Netscape Navigator was released in 1994—has now been completely overhauled. At the top of the screen are three rows of icons that turn into buttons as your cursor passes over them.
With a trick—borrowed from Internet Explorer—you can change the size and location of these toolbars or make them disappear altogether. One welcome change is the much-improved management of bookmarks. In previous versions of Navigator, the collection of favorite sites quickly grew into an unwieldy list.
Now, when you click on the “edit bookmarks” menu item, you get a Windows Explorer-style view of your book marks, and you can use the drag-and-drop technique to reshuffle folders. Best of all, bookmarks you put into the “personal toolbar folder” appear as toolbar icons, ready for quick access.
The big question for Netscape then is how long it can stay in front. Early test versions of Internet Explorer 4.0 not only match Communicator feature-for-feature, but also make Windows itself much more browser- like. You navigate through the screens with the forward and backward buttons, and the program treats files on your computer the same as Web links. Netscape will find this almost impossible to match, but it’s not clear that this feature is one that most people will want. Still, consumers can only benefit as the Microsoft-Netscape competition steadily makes both products better. Let’s hope the race goes on for a long time.
Netcaster: Information delivery tool for intranet and Internet users
The most useful addition that Netscape has made in the Communicator is the availability of Netcaster as a very small but extremely useful plug-in. Keeping with the Push technology trend, Netcaster makes the browser pull the personalized channel’s news and information from its server. It works the same way as Pointcast Network. In fact, Netscape Netcaster dynamically delivers intranet and Internet information to user desktops. With Netcaster, Netscape Communicator users can subscribe to a content “channel”—a content source much like a broadcast TV or radio channel—and receive content that they can view offline. Netcaster’s broad cast, or “push,” capabilities enable users to receive constant information updates in the background while they are working on other tasks.
Try the latest Netcaster preview release now. It will install itself automatically to the final version of Netscape Communicator via Smart Update. See the frequently asked questions page for more information on Netcaster and the developer’s guide to team how to create channels.
Users can customize how and when information is delivered to their desktops. Information is delivered in an offline cache for faster display. Create a desktop channel, or “webtop,” that provides a constantly accessible information stream. Users can “anchor” any channel to their desktop to create a webtop environment.
Find the best channels on the Internet. Netscape Channel Finder guides users to the best channels on the ‘Net. Access Marimba’s Castanet channels with Netcaster’s built-in Castanet Tuner.