Which Are You? Explorer or Communicator?
With the final release of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 4.0 now making the rounds on the Internet, it’s hard to believe that it’s been just more than two years since Bill Gates declared that the Internet isn’t all that important to the future of the company.
He quickly realized the error of his ways and had enough money to do something about it. What Microsoft did--and continues to do with this latest release of Internet Explorer--is give Netscape Communications and its Communicator 4.0 suite of Internet tools a real run for the money. Netscape still commands a considerable lead, but it is narrowing on an almost daily basis.
Both Internet Explorer and Communicator are loaded with great features. Both offer plenty of little enhancements that make traditional Web browsing easier. But the biggest change is what these programs offer in addition to basic Web browsing.
For example, both packages include teleconferencing software that supports voice, video and what’s called white-boarding. White-boarding is the ability of conference participants in different parts of the company or the world to make modifications to the same document in real time. That means that if you’re in San Francisco on a conference call with the New York office to get some input on a document you’ve created, you can see the changes they make as they make them. That’s pretty powerful stuff.
Both packages also offer support for Dynamic HTML, a technology that isn’t widely used yet but that could dramatically change the look and feel of the World Wide Web. Instead of the traditional static page, whose look relies a lot on which browser you use, Dynamic HTML--at least in theory--can be used to create precisely positioned elements and other page features such as layers. The end result is that Web pages could wind up functioning much more like the multimedia programs you now buy on CD-ROM.
Another feature that’s been getting plenty of press lately is so-called push technology. The idea behind push is that instead of having to go out and find the Web content you want (which is called pull technology), the content comes to you automatically. For example, if you like to read the online edition of the daily paper every morning, you can use push technology to have it waiting for you when you get to the computer.
Internet Explorer takes this one step further with what it calls its Active Desktop. This feature allows you to display Web content as the “wallpaper” on your Windows desktop. This means that you could, for example, have current stock prices continuously displayed in the background on your computer.
The downside to all these new features is that they aren’t compatible between the two packages. Internet Explorer push works differently than Communicator push. Internet Explorer Dynamic HTML works differently than Communicator Dynamic HTML. And so on and so on. The bottom line is that content developers may be forced to choose between one or the other. And, depending on which browser you choose, that means you may not be able to take advantage of the Web content you want.
I know I’m going to get flamed by e-mails and accused of working for Microsoft when I say this, but I do like Internet Explorer better.
I used to be in love with Netscape Navigator. But if you shelve your bias for the underdog, I bet that you’ll agree that Internet Explorer 4.0 makes great strides over Communicator in more than a few ways.
The basis for my choice is the implementation of the browser itself. An Internet browser is no longer a stand-alone application for most professionals. Companies are dispersing internal and external information using the Web. There are PCs on office desktops, many of which have direct access to the Internet.
Therefore, it makes perfect sense to tie together the tools that will allow the user to browse their PC, any computers attached to it and the information on the Web, using the same interface.
IE 4.0 is, in fact, a preview of the Windows 98 shell. Microsoft says that when Windows 98 hits the streets in the second quarter of 1998, there will be no revolutionary change from Windows 95. However, from what I have seen of IE 4.0 and a beta of Windows 98, there will be enough of a difference to change the way we get work done. The increased efficiency of only having to use one shell is a gold star in my book.
Internet Explorer gives you the option to convert the entire Windows operating system to the look and feel of the Web by using what’s called the Internet Explorer shell. For example, maybe you’ve noticed that in Windows, you must double-click on an icon to activate it, while on a Web page, this takes only one click. On the other hand, if you choose to install the shell, activating an icon takes only one click, whether you’re on the Web or on your own hard drive.
I’ve talked to plenty of people about the IE shell. It seems to be one of those things you either love or hate; I haven’t talked to anyone who is neutral on the topic. After adding some more memory to one of my PCs (which brought it up to 32 megabytes), I did learn to love it. Communicator ran fine with the memory it had, but then again, it doesn’t take over your desktop either.
There’s just one little problem with the tremendous capabilities of both programs. Both packages do a great job of addressing the needs of the corporate user, but most home users will never need many of these extras. Chances are, you just want to browse the Web and that’s it.
With this in mind, Netscape recently announced that it plans to release version 4.0 of Navigator (the browser component of the Communicator suite) without all the extra bells and whistles. That makes good sense.
One last thing you may want to consider. While Internet Explorer 4.0 is available right now only for Windows 95, you can get Communicator 4.0 for Windows, Mac or UNIX.
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Kim Komando is a TV host, syndicated talk radio host, author and entrepreneur. You can visit Komando on the Internet at https://www.komando.com or e-mail her at komando@komando.com
