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By
John Moran
Hartford Courant
I
want to love the latest edition of the Netscape browser.
If the preview release is any indication of what’s
coming, it could be a difficult transition.
Keep
in mind that I’ve been partial to Netscape since that
browser made its debut in 1994 on the Internet, replacing
Mosaic as the Web software of choice for most Net surfers.
And
I cling to it today — even though Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer has long since taken over as the dominant
browser on the Web, and even though Netscape’s new
owner, America Online, hasn’t released a full upgrade
in nearly two years.
But
it would be an understatement to say that I’ve been
hankering for a better browser.
A
couple of years is forever on the Internet, and no one wants
to be stuck with a dead-end program. With Microsoft readying
another version of Internet Explorer, the prospect loomed
that I would finally have to switch.
So
it was with some anticipation that I downloaded the preview
version of Netscape 6.0 to see what the programmers had
wrought.
The
most striking difference with the new version is a redesigned
interface. Most of the old toolbar icons have been trashed
in favor of a simple four-button design for forward, back,
stop and reload. The new look also does away with the customary
three-dimensional look and substitutes a flattened design
in shades of blue and gray.
I
certainly don’t miss some of the icons that cluttered
the Netscape toolbar in the most recent release (version
4.7). I rarely used the “security” and “search”
buttons, and never used “My Netscape” or “Shop.”
But a couple of my favorite icons were also swept away in
the housecleaning, including “print” and, especially,
“home.”
Perhaps
Netscape, which says it will produce different “skins,”
or masks, for its browser, will allow people to customize
the appearance of the toolbar with different buttons.
A
major enhancement is a “sidebar” that gives users
easy access to news, stock prices, bookmarks, search engines
and more. Internet Explorer has a similar feature, which
it calls the Explorer Bar, and it’s certainly something
that a lot of people like, especially with today’s
bigger screens.
Netscape
is also making better use of the bottom of the screen with
yet another toolbar. This one features icons and menus that
take users to special features and services, usually those
on the Netscape portal site. Indeed, the tight integration
between the browser and the Netscape Web site is likely
to appeal to many users.
The
new Netscape also has a smaller download size than previous
editions. That’s an important feature if the browser,
which most users must obtain via download, is going to have
any chance against Internet Explorer, which comes pre-installed
on Windows machines.
On
the downside, Netscape has inexplicably chosen to change
some of the keyboard shortcuts that quickly execute various
commands. Reprogramming my fingers is going to be an annoying,
and unnecessary, chore.
The
new Netscape seems unlikely to unseat Internet Explorer
as the most popular browser on the Web. And given Microsoft’s
continuing improvements, it may no longer be possible to
argue that Netscape is the better browser, either.
But
the new version looks good enough to enable those dedicated
Netscape fans to hang on to their favorite awhile longer.
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