Wednesday, March 12, 1997

When 'push' comes to shove: Netscape, Microsoft unveil new Web browsers

By DAVID E. KALISH AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - In moves that could dramatically alter the way people cruise the Internet and manage their computer files, Microsoft Corp. and Netscape Communications Corp. are reworking their browser software for companies and consumers.

Microsoft plans to unveil next week a test copy of its Internet Explorer 4.0, a new browser version that turns the computer screen into a viewfinder for both the Internet and information stored in a user's personal computer.

Icons for everything from desktop files to far-flung Web pages are given the same prominence on the computer screen, blurring today's distinction between the Internet and a user's desktop PC. The program also is a launchpad for exchanging electronic mail and video conferencing.

Netscape, the largest maker of Internet browser software, on Monday announced plans for a similar all-in-one program next year. Code-named Mercury, it's targeted at corporations whose computers are linked through private Internets, known as intranets.

Both companies also are including technology to address a frequent complaint of Cyberspacers - too much Internet information.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Netscape's next generation of software incorporates so-called "push" technology - sending tailored information directly to one's desktop so that users don't have to search for what they need. The software focuses on "extranets" - private Internet connections between companies. Netscape said its new software will allow corporate customers, for example, to search a supplier's inventory for new items.

Netscape plans to release a program, code-named Constellation, later this year that would bring the push technology to both consumer and corporate browser users. And Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., is busy integrating several push features into Internet Explorer 4.0.

The combination of push technology and all-in-one browsers that act as desktops promises to shape the port of entry for millions of users into a world of customized news and other requested information. It also intensifies a battle for technological oneupmanship between the two biggest makers of Internet software - threatening to catch several smaller companies in the cross-fire.

PointCast is the leader in this technology, after launching a product a year ago that enables "viewers" to receive channels of news, sports and other information contributed by media companies ranging from Reuters to CNN. Rivals have since jumped in, including BackWeb, Marimba and Intermind.

"Obviously, the entrance of Netscape and Microsoft into the push arena at this point in some ways already means the game is over for some of these companies," said Melissa Bane, an analyst at The Yankee Group, a Boston-based research company.

There's a potential for big profits from advertising, product sales and online subscriptions. The Yankee Group estimates that revenues generated for Internet companies through push technologies will hit $5.7 billion by the year 2000, or more than one-third of total revenues generated by the Internet. That's up exponentially from today's roughly $10 million in push revenues.

With its hold on the computer desktop - some 90 percent of the world's PCs run on Microsoft operating systems - Microsoft is in a strong position to benefit from what it calls "Web integration." Internet Explorer 4.0, which is not due in final form for a few months, would become a replacement for the current Windows 95 desktop, the basic program that runs a computer's operating system.

For others, the trend is heightening concerns about security on the Internet.

Because the push technology automatically sends information from the Internet directly to a user's computer, hackers and harmful software viruses conceivably could more easily infiltrate one's hard drive. And the blurred distinction between Internet and desktop files may make users less wary against such threats.

The openness of such systems aggravates another danger: Invasion of consumer privacy. With information sent to identifiable user addresses, the technology becomes the perfect vehicle for tracking and monitoring users. Unlike anonymous Web surfing, now advertisers can keep track of exactly who is looking.

"Users will not have any clear idea as to what they are doing. It will introduce a lot of security problems, especially in a corporate setting," said Yun Choi, director of network security for Walsh-Lowe & Associates, a Hoboken, N.J.-based technology consulting firm.

"The old axiom of security is, the bigger the program, the higher the risk of security."