HTML Standard
HyperText Markup Languague (HTML) defines the structure of a document. Standards for HTML are set by W3C, a consortium which designs and promotes the adoption of standards for the way information is displayed, modified, and interacted with on the Web. However, to date most of the common features and extensions of HTML that are becoming standards or are de facto standards have been developed by Netscape and other companies such as Sun Microsystem's Java programming language and Microsofts's object-oriented ActiveX. The result has been that a web site designed using Netscape's extensions to HTML may not be viewable in Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
On January 14, 1997, HTML 3.2 became a W3C Recommendation. This recommendation was developed together with vendors including IBM, Microsoft, Netscape Communications Corporation, Novell, SoftQuad, Spyglass, and Sun Microsystems. HTML 3.2 adds widely used features such as tables, applets and text flow around images. While both Navigator and Explorer updates will adhere to these latest specifications, they continue to support proprietary HTML tags as described below
Frames & Tables
Both Netscape and Microsoft support basic and borderless frames and variety of controls over frames and both support nested frames. Navigator recognizes attributes that define a borders thickness and color while Microsoft supports floating frames.
Both also support tables, grouping of multiple rows and columns, table borders, nested tables, and cell background colors. Microsoft can also place background images in table cells and draw different types of borders between cells.
Multimedia
Both browsers handle basic graphics types, including JPEGs, GIFs, tranparent GIFs, and GIF89a animations and both handle client-side image maps. Microsoft IE also supports .BMP files. Netscape supports LOWSCR attribute to IMG tag, which specifies a low resolution preview version of a graphic that loads before the full image and is useful over slow connections. Microsoft IE supports the DYNSRC attribute that loads an Audio-Video Interleaved animation, rather than displaying a static graphic. IE also supports MPET-1 video playback.
Proprietary Extensions
Microsoft Internet Explorer
- produce horizontal rules in different colors
- built in marquee control that generates ticker tape-style scrolling text
- recognizes META tag that shows a Web pages rating from a PICS (Platform for Internet Content Specification) system
Netscape
- BLINK tage
- ALINK attribute of BODY tag, which changes color of links as they are clicked
- permits specification of the type of bullets to be used in bulleted lists
- supports a DLCOMPACT tag that produces very compact listings
- MULTICOL tag which flows text automatically into multiple columns, with adjustable column width and inter-column spacing
- SPACER tag allows the insertion of either horizontal or verticle white space of a specified number of pixels
Cascading Style Sheet Level 1 (CSS1)
CCS Level 1 provides a full set of basic typographical controls and allows specification of type size down to the point, pixel, or pica, etc. and is supported by Internet Explorer. Netscape has indicated that it will support style-sheets in Navigator 4.0 but it is not sure if they will support the same CSS standard as Microsoft.
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