Browsing for browsers Analysis/Commentary Were you ever happy with Netscape 4.1, 4.5, or 4.7? Did Internet Explorer 4 and 5 give you a pain in the bippy? They did for me. Netscape always seemed to leave a little reminder behind to the effect that my browser had committed an illegal action -- felonious assault, I suppose. IE, like other bloatware from Microsoft, always offered features I didn't need or couldn't use. Now, maybe the new browsers from AOL and Mozilla.org will offer us a little solace. The Gecko from Netscape promises to be lightweight. (Neat. Last time I downloaded Netscape Communicator, it took four hours. Time enough to travel out of state.) And, if its open-source precursor by NeoPlanet allows us something to judge it by, will be a cinch to download and a pinch to operate. You can even watch fancy Macromedia graphics while HTTP crawls its way across the network. On my prehistoric 486, NeoPlanet worked just fine. Of course, the Neoplanet browser-makers threw commercials at me, but that was okay. Where can you go these days without encountering a billboard, a logo, or an obsessive jingle? Doubtless, on our death beds, we'll pause for station breaks between rattles. "Thanks for watching, and don't touch that dial." There I was thinking the browser wars were over, but AOL was just catching its breath, and IE promises to be up at 'em after a short stint in the poker. Good old Bill Gates, you can bust him up, but you can't beat him down. According to press reports, Netscape 6 will be available in about a month's time and will be supported by seven major vendors, according to an AOL press release. They are IBM, Intel, Liberate Technologies, Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, NetObjects, and Nokia Corp. (Nokia. Who's there? Gecko. Gecko who?) The Netscape release will feature innovations such as portable browsing, the ability to download Net browsing to set-top boxes on TV, and support for XML User Language, a variation of Extensible Markup Language. The PlanetNet browser exhibits keywording, the ability to define text words from an ordinary HTML page, and the option to zoom in on parts of the text. Mozilla.org, an open standards organization, dedicates itself to safeguarding the tradition of Mosaic, the first browser, and aggressively challenges usurpers, like Godzilla. (I swear, I didn't make this up.) Sheesh, what's next? March 22, 2000