Competing browsers vie for attention

Microsoft and Netscape are showing off improvements to their Web browsers. These are expected to ship in the summer.

Netscape last week posted on its Web site the second beta release of its forthcoming Communicator client.

Meanwhile, Microsoft chose last week's Windows show in London to give the first public demonstration of Internet Explorer (IE) 4.0.

The browser will enter public beta tests in April, although developers will be supplied with 'preview' code before then.

Netscape's Communicator client will comprise version 4.0 of the Navigator browser with separate email, HTML authoring, document management and audio and whiteboarding conferencing components.

The conferencing component will work to the H.323 standard, which has already been adopted by Intel and Microsoft, and means that Communicator users will be able to conference with IE or Intel ProShare users.

Improvements to the Navigator browser include automatic installation of Netscape Plug-ins. Currently, Plug-ins - software objects downloaded from a Web site to run in Navigator - must be installed in several manual steps, which include shutting down and restarting the browser.

Both Navigator 4.0 and Microsoft's IE 4.0 browser will support Dynamic HTML. This will allow features such as the embedding of concealed graphics within a page which then appear when the cursor moves a hot spot.

IE 4.0 will be bundled with software similar to Navigator's Communicator suite.