Now that the browser war has weeded out a majority of the browsers, you are left with a choice between 2 extremely great browsers. Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. Both have their pros and cons.
Today when you purchase or download a browser you not only get just that. You get an email client, html designer, and many other programs to let you tap into the information available on the Internet.
Netscape Navigator has been around longer than Internet Explorer and has lead the market with a strong hold until the version 4 browsers came along.
Bundled with Netscape are an email client and a newsgroup reader. Netscape is preferred by many Windows 3.1 users because it is basically the only browser that Windows 3.1 supports. On the other hand, you have to purchase this browser, -unless you are a teacher or a student.
If you would like to visit their web site the address is http://www.netscape.com.
This browser supports java and javascript only, while its competitor supports both of them plus ActiveX and VBScript.
Internet Explorer is a very powerful browser that now in version 4 it is a part of the operating system instead of a separate program. If you own Microsoft Office 95 or 97 this browser is made so that is works with Office.
Explorer is 24% faster than Netscape in both execution and downloading. With Explorer you get an email client, newsgroup reader, live video support, html editor, and several other multimedia programs. This is the browser of choice for many Windows 95 users. With the new Internet Explorer 4.0, you can automatically get live content on your desktop delivered to you every morning when you wake up.
Another giant plus is, the browser now fully integrates into you operating system. This means that you are now "part" of the Internet.
If you would like to download or want more reading you can go to http://www.microsoft.com.
While both of these are extremely great browsers, one in my personal opinion is far better. This browser lets you view channels. Channels are a product of push technology.
Push technology is a way of viewing and receiving data over the net. Instead of your computer retrieving info off the net, the server sends you the info like on your television. You can get the information that you want delivered to you every morning without having to sign on. Also, you can automatically pay bills with Wallet. This feature will pay bills for you whenever they need to be. This browser package is Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. This browser had 10% of the market 2 years and now has just over 60% according to some reports, and 40% according to other reports.
One of the newest features in the 4.0 browsers is the autocomplete of URL's (uniform resource locator). This means that when you type in www.mic the browser will automatically put "http://www.microsoft.com". This is a really handy feature.
Also, until now email was plain simple and boring. Black text on a white background. A new feature introduced to the email system enables you to import pictures, hyperlinks, tables, and even the latest java applets; bringing your email to life.
If you would like to look up more information about the newest
features of Netscape Communicator, including channels, push capability,
e-mail with java applets, and data encryption capabilities, you
can visit some of these sites:
http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/communicator/glossary.html#channel
http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/communicator/netcaster.html
http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/communicator/messenger.html
http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/communicator/navigator.html
And for Internet Explorer, you can visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie40/.
Cody Bailey is the assistant web master at Story Communications.
He is 16 years old, attends Seguin High School where he is a
Junior, and plans to pursue a career in Finance and Computers.
If you would like to send him questions or comments about this
article please feel free to e-mail him at codyb81@connecti.com.
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Gloria R. Rivera at 303-4764.
riverag@connecti.com
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