Wednesday, October 22, 1997

Which browser is best for you?

By Brian Bethel / Abilene Reporter-News

Remember when web browsers were used for browsing the web?

We Internet oldsters (anyone surfing before, say, 1995) remember. Dynamic HTML? Ha! You were lucky to get a graphic or two.

Fancy backgrounds? Java applets? Forget it. Frames? Integrated mail and news? No way.

Today we don't have web browsers. We have Internet communication suites. Pretty much everything you want to do daily on the Internet can be done from the comfort of your favorite browser. And it even helps you surf the web, too!

We now have two new contenders for the "best browser" crown, both from giants of the industry: Netscape Communicator 4.0 and the already-embattled Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0.

Both applications, recently released, offer a wide variety of features for the seasoned webster and the neophyte alike.

And both take very different approaches to get to the same information.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE ...

At their core, both browsers are still primarily ways to get information from the ever-expanding World Wide Web. And as would be expected, both shine in that department.

But the design philosophy each one exhibits is completely different.

For example, Netscape is entirely a stand-alone package, simply because of the company's design philosophy: Put our browser on as many machines as possible.

Whether you use Windows 95 or 3.1, a Macintosh or even a UNIX box, you can -- or will soon -- be able to run pretty much the same copy of Netscape Communicator.

Microsoft, although it promises versions for different operating systems are on the way, is taking a different tack, optimizing IE4 to sparkle in its 32-bit Windows 95 operating system.

What this means is that when you download Netscape, you get a browser suite. But when you download IE4, you get what essentially amounts to an update for Windows 95.

DESKTOP DYNAMO

The most prominent feature of this upgrade is the new "dynamic" desktop, which you can use to make your machine behave more like a web site.

In fact, you can even boot up Explorer (it opens extremely fast) and access your hard drive from it while surfing. Just click on folders and files like you would any document.

You can also, according to Microsoft, add HTML tags to your desktop or put a web page up as your desktop background image.

Four new buttons are added to your taskbar when you download IE4, each of which either runs a component of the browser suite or accesses some other aspect of your machine.

Particularly useful is a button that returns you to your desktop and closes each open window onto the taskbar with a single click.

Even the good old Windows 95 Internet Dialer gets a new look and feel, something I thought it needed anyway. The new redial features are worth their weight in gold alone.

All in all, this is the most disorienting feature of IE4, although the control it gives over the look and feel of your computer is considerable.

You can even set your desktop icons to open on a web-like single click, rather than a double-click.

Netscape has attempted to create something similar using its "push"-based Netcaster software, but all it amounts to is a window floating over your desktop.

IE4 is your desktop, and that will attract some and push away others. All I can say is give it a try. I like it.

Next week, more on Netscape and Explorer.