Wednesday, October 29, 1997

Only way to pick browser is to try them out

By BRIAN BETHEL / Staff Writer

In the dawn of the new era of 4.0 browsers, you will probably find much that is familiar in either Netscape Communicator or Internet Explorer.

But there are plenty of differences, most of which are designed as improvements to your web-surfing experience.

Here are some observations that may help you find the browser of your dreams.

TYPING? HOW GAUCHE

Both browsers are pretty smart compared to their earlier incarnations. Each is now smart enough, for example, to remember where you've been recently and will scan your typing to try to figure out whether you are trying to get back there.

This "type-ahead" feature is a bit disorienting at first, but quickly becomes second-nature.

Both also offer an history functions, remembering much of where you've been on the web.

What this means is that if you cannot remember all of a URL or do not recall anything about that great site you found last week, chances are Netscape and Explorer remember -- and can take you there easily.

NEW LOOKS COMING

Both browsers have tweaked the way you get information slightly, resulting in a few changes for the experienced surfer.

Speed-wise, Explorer has some real advantages over Netscape, although both browsers will seem a bit slow at first.

But in terms of displaying content, things are pretty much the same in either browser -- for now.

Both Netscape and Explorer are trying to become the standard for "dynamic HTML," a new form of Hypertext Markup Language, the code web sites are written in.

Basically, dynamic HTML will give us better-looking web sites, while giving designers much more freedom in creating their site in terms of layout, design and features.

Unfortunately -- surprise -- both companies have completely different ideas as to what should be included in such an innovative idea.

Right now, there may not be too much to worry about, but eventually, it will become a problem.

MAIL AND NEWS

Both Browsers offer integrated mail and news packages.

Netscape's Messenger and Explorer's Outlook Express are both robust applications that get the job done -- though still not as well as individual software devoted to mail and/or news reading.

Messenger's layout and design will be instantly familiar to those who have used Netscape in the past. It is pretty much the design and format you have come to expect.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is to be commended for taking the best features of its commercial messaging program, Outlook, and scaling it down to a simple, elegant package for the average surfer.

Both browsers handle mail and news admirably.

'PUSH' IT AWAY

Both browsers make a big deal out of so-called "push" technology. And again, they implement it differently.

In theory, push brings what you want on the web to you. In practice, all it does is slow down your home computer while you wait for content you could have gotten just as easily using a traditional browser.

Netscape uses Netcaster, a JAVA-based program, to deliver its own brand of Push content. IE4 uses a concept called "Channels."

Both are completely incompatible with each other and offer in some cases totally different sources of information.

All I can say is unless you have a direct, i.e. non-modem-based, connection to the Internet, stay away.

Push slows your regular applications to a crawl and really requires you to be connected to the Internet at all times to be effective.

In addition, a random comparison of "push" sites with their counterpart regular websites revealed I was getting exactly the same information, just more slowly and intrusively.

TRY 'EM BOTH

So which browser is best? That, I'm afraid, is still up to you to decide.

For my needs, I like the new version of Internet Explorer, but your needs and wants may be different.

Download both, preferably separately, and play with each for about a week. Then go with the one that feels the best.