Netscape 6 is a work that needs more work

Monday, April 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Itâ€™s nothing like the old browser war days, but Netscape 6 Preview Release 1 offers some hope as a future alternative to Internet Explorer, the software of choice for more than 70 percent of computers on the Internet.

But Netscape, now under the wing of new owner America Online, still has some work to do on this browser, a byproduct of the troubled Mozilla Web browser (www.mozilla.org).

The preview is intended only for those who might want a look at a work-in-progress. But most of the new features appear fully functional, and surfers have made it a top choice for download on numerous sites since its release April 5.

Netscape 6 joins two other minor upgrades for popular browsers hitting the Web this month.

Internet Explorer 5.0 arrived for Macintosh computers at www.microsoft.com/mac/download/en/default.asp. and a beta release IE 5.5 for Windows made a quiet debut inside the Microsoft Developer Network (msdn.microsoft.com). IE 5.5 boasts "improved navigation performance" and a print-preview function not available in early versions of IE 5.0.

Meanwhile, the third beta release of Opera 4.0 came online April 11 at www.opera.com. This small, 2-megabyte browser features an integrated cookie manager that allows better control over what information Web sites can store on your hard drive. Technology news source ZDnet found this a popular offering, ranking it in the top 5 percent of all downloads.

Netscape 6, which is available in Windows, Mac and Linux versions at home.netscape.com/download/previewrelease.html?cp=dosea, is remarkably small, a radical departure from the huge "bloatware" offerings of Communicator 4X and IE 5.0. (AOL has abolished the Communicator and Navigator names.).

The thin download is perhaps the most compelling reason for Netscape 6. Its installer is less than 300 kilobytes and allows users to customize their installations with only the components they desire. The entire browser is only 5.5 megabytes, about 30 percent smaller than a similarly configured version of Internet Explorer.

The look is noticeably spare. The aqua, blue and gray Netscape 6 interface is dominated by huge navigation buttons on the upper left and the new My Sidebar feature running down the left rail.

My Sidebar may be My Annoyance to many surfers who donâ€™t want to scrunch down their viewing windows any further. It takes up quite a bit of space, much like IEâ€™s Explorer bars. But with IE, you can get rid of the sidebar by closing it out with a single mouse click. My Sidebar can be eliminated only by sliding it to the left. It never completely disappears.

There is probably good reason for that design from AOLâ€™s point of view. My Sidebar is heavily peppered with options distributed by AOL, including Instant Messenger. However, the browser in its current state does not detect previous AOL Instant Messenger installations, making configuration a hassle.

The melding of Instant Messenger with Netscape Mail allows a huge jump in flexibility. For example, when an Instant Messenger user sends a letter, you have the option of sending an instant message back instead of writing an e-mail. Eudora, Outlook and Outlook Express address books, saved mail and other settings can also be easily imported.

The spare look of the browser may be changeable in later releases. Skins - theme-based overlays of the basic Netscape 6 design - will be offered and developed by third parties as the browser nears final beta testing. Right now, however, youâ€™re stuck with aqua and gray.

A cookie manager enables users to preview information that Web sites are storing about you on your hard drive and allows blocking of cookies from specified domains.

Thereâ€™s also a password manager, which can save and encrypt your passwords to consumer sites so you donâ€™t have to re-enter them.

A built-in translation engine is nifty, too. Although slow, it makes a decent effort at translating any foreign language Web page into passable English using the Teletranslator engine.

But the Mozilla.org developers, plagued by rampant defections since Netscape sold out to AOL, have struggled to crank out this new offering, and it shows.

Although the browser has been praised for its improved support for the many display standards being used today, it contains drawbacks.

Our version, Build 20000033112, would not run Webcam programs. Difficulties were also encountered when highlighting and stripping copy from Net pages. Itâ€™s supposed to be Java-compliant, but not all Java-based chat rooms function properly.

Other popular features are noticeably absent, such as a history list of Web sites visited and auto-completion of Web addresses.

Also, the browser seems to have trouble displaying pages with heavy graphics, grinding to a snailâ€™s pace when compared with IE 5.0 and 5.01.

Beyond that, the Netscape 6 Preview Release 1 comes without an uninstall program, although it installs into its own separate directory and wonâ€™t harm current Netscape settings. If you want to get rid of it, youâ€™ll have to delete the folder from your drive.

The bottom line for most users: Proceed with caution, but Netscape 6 is definitely worth a look.

E-mail staff writer Doug Bedell at dbedell@dallasnews.com.