DHTML
Java
Mail and News
HTML Authoring and Development Platforms
Security

VIRTUALLY EVERYONE has heard about the browser war between Microsoft and Netscape. Lawyers, politicians and media personalities talk, almost daily, of the head-to-head battles between "corporate giant -- Microsoft", and "everyone's favorite underdog -- Netscape". However, you don't hear a lot about advantages and disadvantages of the actual products, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4 (IE4) and Netscape's Communicator 4.

Browsers have been rapidly evolving for several years, but the new versions of both browsers are unprecedented leaps forward in HTML support and user interfaces, both are more polished, more stable versions than their predecessors.

Upgrading your browser is always a good idea. Typically new, releases of any program will fix recognized bugs and problems with previous versions, incorporate new facilities and applications, and increase security. With both IE4 and Communicator 4 offered as free downloads, it's impossible to argue against upgrading your browser.

Also, since both browsers are free, you don't necessarily have to pick one over the other. Take both, play with them, become familiar with each program, and keep the one best suited for your needs. Given the two companies' history of staggered browser releases, you may decide to pick the newest version in order to take advantage of the improvements it offers. Since each browser handles different tasks in a different manner, some folks have made the decision to keep both browsers on hand, using IE4 when they are in Microsoft friendly environments, and using Communicator 4 when completing functions that the Netscape browser handles better.

So what does each browser handle best? The most important function of a browser is it's ability to render pages. Both browsers have incredibly fast HTML "readers" making pages load as quickly as your bandwidth will allow. Both support level one cascading style sheets, and both incorporate NNTP newsreaders and are POP3- and IMAP-4 compliant. Each browser has it's own set of bells and whistles. Netscape offers voice mail, and videoconferencing. Microsoft offers an active desktop, user-friendly "Favorites" and automatic URL completion. These added features are interesting and somewhat fun, but the best criteria for judging a browser lies in it's ability to handle DHTML (dynamic HTML), Java, Mail and News, HTML Authoring and Development Platforms, and Security.
 
DHTML (Dynamic HTML)
Both browsers implement their own form of DHTML. Since their DHTML models are almost entirely incompatible with each other, the job of dynamic web development is harder than it needs to be. In short, pages that are rendered on the fly using DHTML typically have to have two versions, the Netscape version and the Microsoft version. An effort to develop one standard for DHTML production is underway. Both companies have committed to supporting the decision of the World Wide Web Consortium (WWWC), a development group founded to establish industry standards for web development packages and browsers. Currently, the WWWC has not settled on either format as the standard for DHTML production.

With two radically different approaches for DHTML, it is difficult for anyone to say which one deploys superior technology. The WWWC seems to be leaning toward the Microsoft model. Many web developers are waiting for a set standard before implementing DHTML applications. Right now, Java and JavaScript are more widely used to create the same effects and they're compatible with both browsers for the most part.
 
Java
Just a year ago, Java applications were few and far between on the web. With the Java virtual machines both Microsoft and Netscape are implementing, both companies are attempting to take serious computing to the next level. The future of the web, after a Java standard is established, is simply going to explode with new applications and inter-activity.

IE4 is superior for reading and rendering Java in web applications. However, Communicator is not far behind. With Java being the future of the web, Netscape will need to work harder to compete in this area. Toolkit operations are comparable in both browsers, but in stressful environments, there is no comparison. IE4 is much faster and much more stable than Netscape's Communicator. IE4's superior memory allocator and garbage collector make a big difference.
 
Mail and News
Microsoft's upgrade to Outlook Express is a definite benefit over the old mail program. It supports multiple accounts and users receiving a massive amount of email find the nested folders and ability to move messages between windows to be more intuitive than Netscape's mail storage facility.

However, Netscape's Messenger mail program is one of the best applications ever for built-in HTML authoring, and support for IMAP4 and LDAP protocols. Messenger has excellent sorting and searching features, and processes mail and news much faster than IE4. With both products reading NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol) news is just like reading email. Netscape's newsgroups look like regular email folders and have faster access time than IE4. Communicator's Collabra, the news application, is actually the same client application as Messenger.

True fans of newsgroups will probably still prefer newsreaders such as FreeAgent for managing messages, but between Microsoft and Netscape, Collabra is the obvious winner.

Both products have off-line modes so you can separate actions that require network traffic and actions that can be done offline. The remote capabilities could both stand better development, but again, Netscape's remote feature comes out ahead of Microsofts in both speed and stability.
 
HTML Authoring and Development Platforms
In terms of HTML authoring, Netscape's Composer offers better manual editing, image formatting, text formatting, link formatting, and table formatting. But the best is yet to come -- Netscape's built-in FTP functions provides a superior environment for file uploading. Drag and drop uploads and downloads make Netscape's Composer easy to use, and fast. Composer also provides a better forum for previewing pages you've created within the browser.

Microsoft's Front Page is a good program for the beginner, offering automatic coding and helpful tips. However, it is hard to preview the pages made in Front Page. Programs that assign HTML code for users can make for an interesting learning environment, but sometimes they teach bad or excessive code. Front Page stands guilty of this charge.

In terms of serious development platforms, it's hard to say which product is superior. Microsoft clearly handles Java and JavaScript better than Netscape, and that is the most compelling factor when looking at serious development platforms. Netscape leads the industry for cross-platform support, selling their products to over 15 different platforms while Microsoft's packages are only available for Windows 95, 98 and NT. While Microsoft's development environment seems to be a one-trick pony -- it's a pretty good trick. That coupled with their superior Java and JavaScript features, Microsoft has a slight edge over Netscape in terms of development platform.
 
Security
Given the increase in online commerce, both browsers have beefed-up security features in their new releases. Communicator gives the user more control over site-by-site security issues, whereas IE4's Security Zones are more broad and general and easier for new users to understand. The biggest problem with Security Zone is that asks for "blanket" security parameters and sites either fall in these categories or they don't. Netscape trusts the user a little more to make informed decisions for themselves, rather than trying to categorize each "type" of site.

Communicator's certificate management is far superior to the Security Zone, allowing users to manage security with greater precision and make choices that are more context-sensitive. This is not surprising considering that Netscape has been the leader in web security, creating SSL (secure sockets layer) for online commerce, and then sharing their code with the world to promote a safer, more commercial friendly WWW. Communicator allows the user to run privileged operations as long as the code contains a digital signature and the user approves of the operation. To learn more about web security, see our Security and the Web article.

Communicator has a Security Advisor that lets you set almost all security parameters from a single dialog box which is conveniently accessible through the tool bar. The Security Advisor also lets you view and verify certificates, digital ID's and signatures, manage encryption tasks, and use S/MIME for rich and secure HTML-based mail from Messenger.

IE4's Security Zone only permits sites to fall into categories of Local Intranet, Trusted Sites, Internet, and Restricted Sites. It's an interesting innovation, but far to general for the advanced user. And even if you are a beginner, you should learn all you can about security rather than trusting your browser to make decisions for you.

While hype over web browsers will continue on for some time, the bottom line is that both companies offer excellent products. Microsoft seems to have targeted newcomers and beginners to the web, whereas Netscape has identified their market as the high-end user. Again, looking at the histories of both companies, this is not surprising. Microsoft has always been geared toward user-friendly, simple applications, which made "a computer in every home" close to a reality. Whereas Netscape has been on the cutting edge of web technology and security for many years, inventing SSL and superior web applications for advanced users.

Download both browsers and find the one that's right for you. Perhaps you'll start with IE4 and then switch to Communicator as you become more aware of the web and how it functions. Perhaps IE4's active desktop and multimedia extensions are more your flavor. Finding the right browser, like all other software programs, is becoming more of a personal preference decision rather than a performance decision -- what a luxury.

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