From: Rohit Khare (rohit@uci.edu)
Date: Wed Apr 12 2000 - 11:17:17 PDT
[RSS panel - nice!]
>On the other side of the browser window, the personalizable My
>Sidebar tab will give users updated information -- ranging from an
>integrated buddy list for conducting instant messaging, to stock
>quotes, calendars, and search results -- without requiring users to
>continuously check a site. Netscape 6 ships with several My Sidebar
>sources, including Reuters and when.com, that can be added to a
>user's My Sidebar and automatically updated.
[SOML rides again! - nice!]
>your buddy list is added to your address book, and if you send an
>e-mail message to a buddy, it will be apparent in the "to" field,
>and the sender may choose to select the instant messaging method of
>communication to avoid an e-mail tag. Even better, your buddy list
>is saved on the Netscape server, so it is available wherever you log
>on
===========================================================================
Wednesday, Apr. 5, 2000 10:00 am PT
Impressive Netscape 6 beta promises widespread appeal
By Lori Mitchell , InfoWorld Test Center
BUSINESS CASE
------------------------------------------------------------------------
If your users spend most of their time reading e-mail while
maintaining a constant connection to the Internet, you should
evaluate Netscape's newly designed browser. The new enhancements
provide a place where users can access multiple information sources
from one interface, including instant messaging, e-mail, and flagged
Web sites, thereby eliminating the need to check multiple sites
frequently or multiple e-mail accounts.
TECHNOLOGY CASE
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Netscape 6 is based on the Netscape Gecko engine to provide a more
open-standard browser from Web developers. It supports XML, HTML4,
COM, and CSS. This browser also has increased platform support,
including Windows, Mac OS, and Linux Web-based appliances.
PROS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Smaller download
+ New interface
+ Manages multiple e-mail accounts
+ More privacy control
+ Additional searching capabilities
+ More browser personalization features
CONS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Not all features available in beta release
COST
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Downloadable, free from Netscape's Web site
PLATFORMS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows, Macintosh, Linux web appliances
Few companies question the wisdom of installing Web browsers on
client machines any more. The primary questions now are which one
should you deploy and whether or not you should upgrade to the next
version. When Netscape 6 is released later this year, its bevy of
impressive user- and developer-friendly new features and revamped
interface may prompt you to choose Netscape's browser over
Microsoft's or to upgrade to the latest version.
Netscape 6, which was redesigned based on the Netscape Gecko
technology, will have a new look and feel. The wildly different
interface offers several more buttons for accessing bookmarks,
channels, Net2Phone, chat, and other features, as well as an emphasis
on keeping users constantly connected both to the Internet and to a
corporate intranet. The Netscape Gecko browser engine offers features
that make Netscape 6 easy enough for casual users while offering an
open-standard approach that will appeal to developers. If you decide
to move to Netscape 6, your users will find many new and welcome
enhancements, including personalized tabs, integrated instant
messaging, and a smaller installation. Developers will appreciate its
expanded support for Web standards and globalization features.
By the end of last year, 64 percent of corporate users used Microsoft
Internet Explorer whereas only 36 percent used Netscape Navigator,
according to a study conducted by Zona Research, a market research
and strategic consulting company in Redwood City, Calif. I looked at
a prerelease version of Netscape 6 that is possibly promising enough
to push this browser back into the limelight, if not just to grab
back its old market share.
The two enhancements which impress me most are the support for Web
standards -- better than ever before -- and the My Sidebar
personalized tabs. The open-standard approach enables developers to
create content once, instead of building different versions for
different platforms; this will save precious and costly development
time. On the other side of the browser window, the personalizable My
Sidebar tab will give users updated information -- ranging from an
integrated buddy list for conducting instant messaging, to stock
quotes, calendars, and search results -- without requiring users to
continuously check a site. Netscape 6 ships with several My Sidebar
sources, including Reuters and when.com, that can be added to a
user's My Sidebar and automatically updated. In the future,
additional sites will be available to add in as well. In addition,
users can search for content more quickly than in previous versions
and manage multiple e-mail accounts.
Also new to this browser is integrated instant messaging. With
Netscape 6, your buddy list is added to your address book, and if you
send an e-mail message to a buddy, it will be apparent in the "to"
field, and the sender may choose to select the instant messaging
method of communication to avoid an e-mail tag. Even better, your
buddy list is saved on the Netscape server, so it is available
wherever you log on.
The e-mail client also has been improved and can now manage a user's
multiple e-mail accounts, including America Online, POP3, IMAP, and
news accounts. I easily set this up with several of my accounts and
started sending and receiving e-mail via one easy-to-use location. In
contrast to Microsoft Outlook, Netscape 6 lets users define each
e-mail account with a separate identity. Messages sent from the
Outlook client will have the same sender e-mail address, whereas
Netscape 6 messages sent from your personal account will be different
from those sent with your business account. When receiving e-mail,
the sender's name is automatically stored in the address book for a
quick lookup for future reference.
And for all of us who have multiple accounts on the Internet,
Netscape 6 provides a password manager to keep track of all the
different passwords you have accumulated, making it easier to manage
all of your accounts with different user names and passwords. These
passwords are also protected, so others cannot see or use them.
I also liked that Netscape 6 provides a cookie manager that lets
users select what sites to accept cookies from; in previous versions,
cookies were either on or off. This gives the user or corporation
more privacy.
I was excited to find impressive new searching capabilities that, for
example, let me search using keywords from the URL field. Users or
companies can set what search engine to use to conduct a search
without going to a search engine site, which will speed up Web
searches. The default is Netscape, but the function is customizable
to whatever search engine you prefer. Not all of the search
capabilities were available with this release, including the
capability of selecting multiple search engines. But this version's
search capability does let you go beyond Web sites to search in
e-mail, bookmarks, and the browser history file, as well as your
computer.
Netscape 6's support for globalization is a feature sure to appeal to
users on the road, or to those who need to search international
sites. Netscape has integrated a translation tool called Alis
Technologies Gist-In-Time, that automatically converts Web content
into a preferred language. For example, I could translate any Web
site displayed in English to Spanish or a site in German to English,
which is a great feature for globally dispersed corporations.
Developers will appreciate Netscape 6's increased support for Web
standards. By providing more support and customization capabilities,
Netscape 6 gives developers more flexibility for building Web pages
across multiple platforms, including web appliances. For instance
Netscape 6 supports standards such as HTML 4, CSS (Cascading Style
Sheets), XML, RDF (Resource Description Framework), and COM. When the
final version is released, the browser will be customizable by the
use of "skins," which let companies, individual users, or both
customize the look of their browsers to fit the needs of their
company or personality.
And to make your IT staff happy, the smaller, downloadable version of
Netscape 6 is easier to install (allowing a customized installation)
and takes up less room on the user's PC. For my test, I installed the
complete installation. That took up only 8.5MB of disk space.
Heavy Internet users who want the latest in browser functionality
will want to give Netscape 6 a go. The newly designed browser beta
release will be available for download on April 5 and will ship later
this year with many customization features, giving individual users
and corporations an environment to manage information and
communication contacts. Corporations will find that this free
downloadable browser provides a customizable interface for presenting
their users with the Web-based information they require. Developers
will welcome the broader open-standard and platform support.
Senior Analyst Lori Mitchell has been reviewing high-technology
products for the past eight years. Lori has covered Internet-based
workgroup, collaboration, and training tools since she joined
InfoWorld in 1997. She can be reached at lori_mitchell@infoworld.com.
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