The Future
Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 are both scheduled for release in early 1997. These have been reviewed recently and the components are presented below (PC World, March 1997).
Netscape Communicator
- Collabra - groupware collaboration tool that accomodates discussion forums and message boards
- Composer - HTML authoring applet
- Conference - includes point-to-point chat, Internet phone, a whiteboard, and supports LDAP standard
- Messenger - email client that supports Uuencoding for binary attachment
- Navigator - supports HTML 3.2 with some proprietary HTML tags
LAYER tag allows designers to place elements in specific screen coordinates and provides superb overlapping
Internet Explorer 4
- Web/Desktop Hybrid - crucial innovation is its complete integration of IE 4 with the Windows 95 and NT 4.0 environments
- Outlook 97 - groupware solution from Office 97 integrated with IE 4
- FrontPad - HTML editor
- NetMeeting 2 - offers chat, a whiteboard, Internet phone and videoconferencing
- Internet Mail and Internet News - email client and news reader will support encryption and LDAP
- Active Desktop - allows users to receive push broadcasts from content providers
It is not yet clear who will emerge as the winner in this "browser war". According to Nash, without the fierce competition there wouldn't be a Web suitable for business applications, no commercial Web servers, no low-cost graphical Web browsers (Computerworld, Dec 23, 1996). But what is clear is that with new updates every few months, users will be able to re-evaluate these browsers and choose the one that best addresses their needs.
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