Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 26 -- MICROSOFT'S BROWSER TAKES A LEAP FORWARD: Boy, am I fickle when it comes to Web browsers.
Last November, I went gaga over Netscape Communications' latest Web-surfing software, Communicator 4.5. While it was an incremental upgrade, it was enough of a leap to push it past Internet Explorer 4.0.
But now I've found a new love.
For the past couple of weeks, I've been playing with the Windows 98
version of Internet Explorer 5.0, and I'm sold. While this may not be the greatest thing since sliced bread, it's definitely the best browser since well, Communicator 4.5.
Microsoft has focused on making a product that's easy for novices to use, but still powerful enough to delight savvy Web surfers. It's faster, friendlier and more stable than its competition.
Say what you will about Microsoft, this is a great piece of software. My initial reaction upon installing it was: "Oh my gawd. Netscape is toast!"
And if that's the case, then Internet Explorer 5 is the toaster, and it won't be because of Microsoft's allegedly underhanded business practices or bullying tactics. It will be because this browser is much better than anything else out there. Period.
Well, at least until Netscape Communicator 5 is released, supposedly this summer.
Those who go through the arduous process of downloading Internet Explorer 5 -- Microsoft has not made downloading any easier, unfortunately -- initially will see a browser that looks almost identical to version 4.01, the product that ships with Windows 98.
Once you begin using it, however, its differences become clear.
Try clicking on the Search button on the toolbar. A pane opens on the left with a list of choices -- find a Web page, someone's address, a business. Enter a search, and you'll get results from the Lycos search engine.
But wait -- what if you prefer AltaVista, InfoSeek, Excite or even the Microsoft Network? No problem. Click the Customize button and you can change which search engine the browser queries first, and preferentially order which of eight engines are checked next. If you don't like the results from the first one, clicking the Next button checks the next search engine in the list -- you don't have to re-enter your data each time.
This left-side pane also lets you search your history -- the list of sites you've visited in the past -- as well as your favorites.
Users of modern browsers are familiar with the feature that fills in a Web address as it's being typed in the location field. Microsoft has extended that capability into the forms you fill out on Web pages themselves.
For example, if you visit Web Site A and it requires a password, Internet Explorer 5 will remember both your log-in name and password. The next time you visit, the browser offers to fill in the information for you.
Like Communicator 4.5, Microsoft's new browser lets you enter a simple word instead of a confusing URL, or Universal Resource Locator, the familiar-but-maddening "http://www" address. For example, if you enter Coca-Cola, you'll go to the Coke Web site.
Internet Explorer 5 behaves differently from Communicator, though, when it can't immediately link the keyword to a Web site. With Communicator, a search is run through Netscape's Netcenter portal. But with Internet Explorer, the keyword is checked against whatever search engine you've listed as tops in the left-hand search pane.
There are other nifty bells and whistles. Internet Explorer 5 includes a toolbar that lets you connect to Net-based radio sites, almost like punching radio buttons in your car. It has a built-in control panel for managing multiple dial-up networking settings, something's that been long overdue. And it can download whole Web sites for off-line viewing.
As enthusiastic as I am about this new version of Internet Explorer, there are still some deficiencies. I still think Communicator's method of storing favorite sites -- creating a single Web page of bookmarked links -- is much easier to work with than the individual shortcut icons Internet Explorer dumps into the Favorites folder.
And Communicator's links bar, a toolbar full of favorite sites, is more versatile and easier to configure than Internet Explorer's.
Finally, the list of search engines from which you can choose is limited by Microsoft's choices. It would be nice if you could add your own preferred search sites.
You can download it for free from www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/.
Send e-mail to dwight.silverman@chron.com, or call 713-220-2000, access code 1001. See Dwight on Eyewitness News Sunday Extra at 7:30 a.m. Sundays on Channel 13.
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