BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : DECEMBER 18, 2000 ISSUE
TECHNOLOGY & YOU A Browser for Nothing-but-Net Folk Until Netscape 6, Net gizmos made do with an insufficient browser from Spyglass When Netscape (AOL) announced in November that the latest version of its Web browser was finally finished, my temptation was to yawn. After all, Netscape's once overwhelming share of the browser market was down to 25% and falling. And many application and Web site developers have stopped trying to accommodate Netscape's deficiencies and now recommend Microsoft Internet Explorer instead. As far as desktops or laptops are concerned, my ennui was well justified. Netscape 6 for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux is a big improvement over its two-year-old predecessor. But it has some major defects that effectively rule it out for most corporate users who use Netscape Communicator for mail. All the new features really do is allow Netscape to catch up with IE. Fortunately for Netscape, the new version really isn't about PCs but Internet appliances, which are designed to cruise the Web, handle e-mail, and not much else. I have been disappointed by the recent crop of Net appliances, mainly because of their underpowered and out-of-date browsers. Microsoft (MSFT) has largely stayed on the sidelines of the non-PC market by limiting the use of its lightweight browser to products such as the Compaq iPAQ Home Internet Appliance that run only on Microsoft's online network, MSN. While waiting for Netscape 6 and a competing browser from Norway's Opera Software, appliance makers have had to make do with a bare-bones browser from Spyglass (SPYG). HELP COMING. You will be seeing several products built around the new Netscape browser early next year. They include the Connected Touchpad from Gateway (GTW) and America Online (Netscape's parent company) and the Dot.Station from Intel (INTC). 3Com (COMS) plans use the automatic upgrade ability of its Ergo Audrey appliance to move from a Spyglass browser to Netscape once it has adapted the Netscape software. If the appliance adaptations of Netscape 6 can retain the key features of the desktop version, it can make an important difference. On PCs, version 6 is the first highly customizable Netscape offering. For example, its standard look uses metallic blue trim and modernized buttons, but for those like me who prefer it, there's an option to make it look just like previous versions of the browser. An optional customizable panel down the left side of the browser window shows stock tips, favorite Net destinations, an AOL buddy list, or assorted other goodies. (Or makes them disappear.) This flexibility runs much deeper and will let appliance makers shape the program to their needs. Other important changes are invisible to users. The past couple versions of Internet Explorer have supported new Web technologies such as dynamic HTML that give increased flexibility to designers. For one thing, they make it relatively easy to update elements on a page without reloading the entire page--and thus, they make complicated screens display very quickly. These technologies are especially important for Web-based applications such as Intuit's QuickBase online database (www.quickbase.com). Netscape has finally caught up, but it may be too late to stem the defections to IE. The ability to handle these complex pages properly would be a real breakthrough for appliances. COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN. On the desktop, however, the new Netscape version actually regresses in some ways important to corporate users. All versions of Netscape's integrated mail program for the past couple of years have let users type in a name that was then matched to an e-mail address using a corporate directory. This feature has been left out of Netscape 6. Also lost is any convenient way to download whole folders of messages for work offline--say, while on an airplane. Netscape says that version 6 is intended as a consumer product and that corporate features such as directory service and secure mail will be restored in the next version. Meanwhile, most corporate users are stuck with older, buggy editions. Or they can join the migration to IE and the Outlook Express mail program. It's very unlikely that Netscape can ever recapture the ground it lost to Microsoft on the desktop. Fortunately for Netscape, however, the new browser is well-positioned to be a hot product in what could become the fastest growth market. Internet appliances have been hobbled for lack of a good browser, and now they just may have one. Questions? Comments? E-mail tech&you@businessweek.com or fax (202) 383-2125 Want to express your own views on a tech&you column or other technology topic? Join the Technology & You online forum. BY STEPHEN H. WILDSTROM _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

Copyright 2000-2008, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of Use   Privacy Notice