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GCN Home > May 22, 2000 issue

Internet Explorer rules on Mac and PC

GCN Lab’s look at seven browsers, two of them interesting newcomers, yields high marks for Microsoft

By Michael Cheek
GCN Staff
and Joel Sparks
Special to GCN

New Web browsers are sprouting like dandelions in spring, and the GCN Lab has dug up several good performers, a couple of promising newcomers and a disappointing once-favorite.

The lab examined seven browsers from four companies—three Microsoft Windows versions, three Apple Mac OS versions and one for Linux.

In this blossoming environment where developers must address more operating systems than before, we found that Microsoft Corp. produces the best browser right now for both Mac OS and Windows. Its Internet Explorer 5.0 for the Mac earned a Reviewer’s Choice designation.

If you prefer to avoid Microsoft products because of uncertainty about its antitrust outcome, look at Opera Software’s Version 4 browser for Windows or iCab Co.’s Version 2 browser for the Macintosh.

As for Linux users and Netscape fans, our advice is to stick with Netscape Communicator 4.x and avoid Netscape 6 on all platforms.

Bloated beta



Netscape Communications Corp.’s effort to make its browser more accommodating for the company’s new owner, America Online Inc., has bloated Version 6. Netscape skipped a Version 5, using the 1998 open-code version as the basis for Version 6.

We tested the first betas of Version 6 for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. The good news is that they all look basically the same. The bad news is the beta only made us happier with Internet Explorer.

Crude around the edges, Netscape 6 spends a lot of energy trying to grab user attention for AOL’s content and that of its partners.

The beta download for Windows and Mac OS starts off with a 190K application for selecting the components to fetch from Netscape’s Web site. A typical installation includes the browser plus apps for e-mail, newsgroups, Web authoring and AOL’s Instant Messenger. The realistic total runs between 16M and 26M.

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