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Netscape working to improve new browser; political parties do 'name game'
By JIM BROOKS A couple of years ago, software giant Microsoft was locked in a battle with Netscape Communications in a fight for the World Wide Web. Netscape's Navigator and Communicator web browser software had most of the market sewed up until Microsoft decided to embrace the Internet in all of its products back in 1995. The stakes were high. A Web browser is the software you use to view -- and surf -- the World Wide Web, and the company that dominated the browser war also could set the pace for innovation, development and help establish standards. In the past five years, Microsoft's share of the market quickly grew, and today it's safe to say that the "Browser War" is over. Microsoft won. But that doesn't mean that Netscape is totally out of the picture. The company still supports and updates its very popular Netscape Communicator software, and is currently developing its next-generation browser, Netscape 6. NETSCAPE 6 UPDATE. Netscape -- now a division of the nation's biggest Internet provider, America Online -- appears to be on track for a winning Web browser with Netscape 6. Netscape 6 can be considered a "work in progress," since it still under development. It has a number of features available that set it apart from its main competitor, Internet Explorer. 5.5. The latest version of Netscape 6 is called Preview Release 2. The first release was introduced in April, and while functional, the software clearly had room for further development and refinement. Many features just didn't work, or work correctly, or crashed the computer. Netscape 6 isn't a revamp of older Web browser software code. It was created from the ground up as the company's next-generation web browsing software for speed and stability. NETSCAPE 6 FEATURES. Netscape 6 can now be setup with "themes," which change the look and graphics used in the program interface. The idea isn't new. NeoPlanet offers similar changeable "theme" features in its customized version of Internet Explorer (see my June 4th column, archived on my Web site at www.myoldkentuckyhome.com, for more details). As a way to promote the software's "themes" feature, Netscape has a contest underway, offering prizes for the best "themes" submitted. The winner gets a really neat Phillips flat-screen plasma TV. Visit Netscape's Web site (home.netscape.com/themes/) for details. In other features, Netscape 6 features better integration of the e-mail client and the AOL Instant Messenger chat software. Look for an additional "Preview Release" before a "final" version is released later this year at the Netscape Web site, http://home.netscape.com. Be warned that the Netscape site has been so busy that downloading Netscape 6 PR2 has been nearly impossible since its release. The best times to try and download it is mornings and weekdays. NAME GAME. As you might have heard recently, Julia Roberts went to court to fight for ownership of the web site name www.juliaroberts.com. Trademarked names and logos have protection under the law. In other words, Joe's Auto Repair couldn't establish Ford.com as a Web site. But with a political slugfest in the works between presidential challengers, the Democrats and the GOP are turning to the Web -- and using unique Web site names to get across a political message. The Republican National Committee recently reserved the AlandJoe.com and AlandJoe.org domain names. While Republicans don't have to actually put the Web sites into operation, the fact that they reserved the name already means that the Democrats can't use it, either. On the other side of the political spectrum, the Democratic National Committee has paid for Bush-Cheney.net, and devoted the site to criticism of Cheney's voting record from his day sin Congress. The GOP registered the domains PhonyAlGore.com and BureaucratsForGore.com earlier this year. DSL GAINING. The number of ultra-fast Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connections to the Internet increased by 59 percent in the U.S., according to second-quarter statistics from the marketing firm TeleChoice. The growth rate for DSL surpasses that of cable TV Internet access, according to TeleChoice. More than 2 million people in the U.S. are using cable Internet access. DSL Internet connections can be up to 100 times faster than conventional telephone Internet access. For telephone companies, DSL will be their alternative Internet access offering that can compete with cable access. The service isn't widely deployed in my area, though it is becoming more common in major metropolitan areas. DSL may not be the answer yet in rural areas because it requires users to be within a certain distance from the phone company's equipment. The TeleChoice survey predicts that DSL and cable Internet connections will reach an additional 10 million homes in the next three or four years. THE CHANGING WEB. Five years ago, most of the Internet's early adopters were men. But according to a new poll, the face of the Web has changed dramatically in the past few years. The number of women is growing faster than the overall population of online users, particularly among teen-age girls and women over age 55, the survey found. The data, by market researcher Harris, and pollsters Media Metrix and Jupiter Communications, show how integrated the Internet has become in our daily lives. The data shows what most of us already realize -- that e-mail and use of the Web is no longer just a novelty, but a business or personal communications tool, as necessary and vital as the telephone. The survey estimates that 76 million Americans actively use the Internet. Another 135 million use the Internet at school, libraries or other facilities. Some of the survey results just confirm what most of us already know, include: • 76 percent said e-mail allows them to keep in better contact with family and friends; • 68 percent said e-mail and instant messaging has reduced their long-distance telephone bills; • 50 percent of people taking the survey believe online relationships are synonymous with infidelity -- 60 percent of women vs. 41 percent of men; • 40 percent of men and 24 percent of the women said the Internet would help them in the presidential elections in November. • 71 percent of men and 58 percent of women responding have purchased goods online. Comments and questions about this column may be sent to jbrooks@myoldkentuckyhome.com, or visit www.myoldkentuckyhome.com on the World Wide Web. | HOME | |