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Web
Browsers |
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Administration |
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Some
primary features of concern to administrators implementing a
standard browser in their environment. |
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Factor: Standard |
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|
Product Name |
Internet
Explorer
5.5 |
Netscape
Communicator
4.73 |
|
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| |
|
Manufacturer |
Microsoft
Corporation |
Sun-Netscape
Alliance |
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| |
|
|
Group Score:
237 out of 310
Total Score:
1002 out of 1460 |
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Group Score:
196 out of 310
Total Score:
819 out of 1460 |
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Cache
Adjustability |
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Weight: 3 |
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Weighted
Score:
12
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Weighted
Score:
16
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The size is set by megabyte increments and can have a
maximum size setting. |
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Cache size is adjustable in megabyte increments for both RAM
and disk caches. The choice of a storage folder is user
definable. |
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Cache
Currency |
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Weight: 4 |
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Weighted
Score:
32
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Weighted
Score:
24
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Cache refreshing can be set for every page visit, by browser
session, never, or as an automatic selection. |
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Cache updating frequency is adjustable for every page visit,
every browser session, or never. |
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Installation |
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Weight: 3 |
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Weighted
Score:
12
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Weighted
Score:
12
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Requires 70-111 MB of free hard disk space for installation.
Generally a version of IE comes pre-installed with the various
Windows operating systems. Microsoft has a downloadable installation
program available from their website. The program allows one to
select specific IE components and related Microsoft applications for
installation. Once all components have been selected, the program
initiates the download and installation process. This process works
through an easy, wizard form. The wizard however, adds a layer of
inconvenience to a process that could be accomplished by filling out
a simple html form at the beginning. |
|
The entire Communicator package and components are available
as free downloads from Netscape. In a regular installation,
components can be deselected from the installation. The smart
download is useful for retrieving only specific components.
Communicator components include Navigator, Messenger, Composer, AOL
Instant Messenger, email and address book import utilities, Flash
plugin, and Headspace beatnik. The Communicator file itself is close
to 20 MB depending on the component selections. Complete install is
44 MB, Navigator only, is 10 MB. Netscape provides software to
customize the browser for specific installation purposes. |
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Interface |
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Weight: 3 |
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Weighted
Score:
16
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Weighted
Score:
12
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The graphical user interface installs with common, basic,
icons on the toolbar. These include forward, backward, and stop
buttons. There are menus for different settings and features, as
well as a full-screen-mode feature. The full-screen browsing feature
isn't truly full-screen, as the browser retains a location
box. |
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The graphical interface includes common icons on a toolbar,
for example: forward, backward, reload, and home. Drop-down windows
are at the screen-top for menu selections and a URL entry
box. |
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Product
Positioning |
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Weight: 1 |
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Weighted
Score:
1
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Weighted
Score:
1
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"The newest version of Internet Explorer, has benefits for
consumers and developers alike. You'll enjoy the ability to preview
Web pages exactly as they'll appear when printed with the new Print
Preview, and with improved support for DHTML and CSS, Web architects
will appreciate the greater control over browser appearance and
behavior. It's never been easier to get online, find the information
you need, and just do stuff faster." |
|
"Communicator offers the complete set of tools for browsing
dynamic web content, plus full-strength email. The result of our
ongoing commitment to quality releases of Netscape software,
offering fixes to reported problems and updated third party
components." |
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Proxy
Configuration |
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Weight: 5 |
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Weighted
Score:
64
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Weighted
Score:
64
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Includes settings to auto-detect proxy configurations. Users
can manually set the proxy server's IP and port for all protocols or
just specific protocols. One can set the server not to proxy for
local addresses or other explicitely defined URLs. |
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Configurable by IP address and port for each protocol (HTTP,
FTP, SOCKS, Gopher, WAIS). One can include exceptions by domain
name. Supports auto-proxy configuration. |
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Scripting
Control |
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Weight: 4 |
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Weighted
Score:
40
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Weighted
Score:
16
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|
Includes on/off toggles for ActiveX and Javascript
scripting. These can be set to prompt the user when such scripts
come up. The browser has advanced options for script notification,
toggling, and debugging. |
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Navigator includes an on and off toggle for
Javascript. |
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Self
Update |
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Weight: 1 |
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Weighted
Score:
4
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Weighted
Score:
3
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Self-updates are available through Microsoft's Windows
Update feature (in the Internet Explorer menu bar). This allows
installation of patches, upgrades, and other windows related items.
Internet Explorer can be set to automatically check for updates to
itself. |
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Self-updates are available through Netscape's SmartUpdate
feature. This feature supports the download and installation of
Netscape upgrades and related applications. |
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Style
Control |
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Weight: 4 |
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Weighted
Score:
32
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Weighted
Score:
16
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Allows users to selectively choose fonts, colors, or create
a custom style sheet to use with all websites. Users cannot,
however, simply turn off style sheets. |
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Does not allow any specialized CSS controls. One can enable
or disable CSS. Additionally, fonts and colors are customizable
through the browser's preference settings. |
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Technical
Support |
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Weight: 4 |
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Weighted
Score:
24
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Weighted
Score:
32
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Microsoft offers ninety days phone-in tech support with the
purchase of their $6.95 CDROM. Additionally, there is an online
searchable help database. The browser itself comes with extensive
help, indexed by subject and searchable by keyword. |
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The software comes with an indexed table of contents for
help items as well as links to Netscape's site. Netscape makes
newsgroups available for additional free support. They offer a live
phone support service for $29.00 per incident. |
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Features |
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The
notable elements that comprise the entire product. These concern the
everyday functionality of the browser. A user will regularly deal
with items like bookmarking and plug-ins. |
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Factor: Standard |
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| |
|
Product Name |
Internet
Explorer
5.5 |
Netscape
Communicator
4.73 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Manufacturer |
Microsoft
Corporation |
Sun-Netscape
Alliance |
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| |
|
|
Group Score:
261 out of 370
Total Score:
1002 out of 1460 |
|
Group Score:
243 out of 370
Total Score:
819 out of 1460 |
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Bookmarking |
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Weight: 5 |
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Weighted
Score:
48
|
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Weighted
Score:
64
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Users can save URLs through the browser's "Favorites" menu.
This menu includes the option to either add or organize the links a
user saves. IE also adds these to the Favorites section of the
Windows "Start" menu. The process for adding a site to the Favorites
list takes several steps that could potentially be combined for an
easier process. |
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Communicator includes a very convenient bookmark feature for
URL additions in a structured list. A user can easily add locations
to the list by clicking on specific folders. The user can also edit
the list as a whole. The browser will import bookmarks from other
browsers but does not integrate with the windows Favorites folder,
instead it stores bookmarks in an HTML formatted file. |
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Cookie
Support |
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| |
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Weight: 4 |
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Weighted
Score:
24
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Weighted
Score:
24
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The browser supports cookies and has a method to handle them
on a session by session basis or stored on the hard drive. |
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Netscape stores cookies in the user directory. It has a
cookie notification toggle as well. |
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History
of URLs |
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| |
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Weight: 2 |
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Weighted
Score:
6
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Weighted
Score:
6
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Internet Explorer provides a dropdown window listing
recently visited URLs. This list is used to auto-complete addresses
entered in the address entry box. Users can easily set the number of
days to keep links in the history. The browser includes a button to
manually clear this history. |
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URLs can be stored for a set period of time (in days) they
appear in the "Location Bar." There are buttons to easily clear the
location bar historical listing. |
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Image
Auto-load |
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Weight: 3 |
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Weighted
Score:
16
|
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Weighted
Score:
12
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| |
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|
The image auto-load feature can be toggled on or off. There
is also an option for showing picture placeholders while a page is
loading. |
|
The image auto-load feature can be toggled from the
browser's preferences. It will selectively load images when the user
clicks an icon. |
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| |
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Image
Map Support |
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| |
|
Weight: 3 |
|
Weighted
Score:
12
|
|
Weighted
Score:
12
|
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| |
|
|
Internet Explorer supports client-side image maps. |
|
Yes, the Navigator component correctly displays client-side
image maps. |
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Integrated
Search |
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| |
|
Weight: 3 |
|
Weighted
Score:
20
|
|
Weighted
Score:
12
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| |
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|
There is a search icon that opens a side panel of results in
the browser. This can be customized to display results in the user's
preferred order of search engines/portals. This window also shows a
related links section. Users can also initiate searches by prefacing
a query with a question mark or "Go." The browser's search assistant
can be set to specify types of information to retrieve. For example,
one can search for addresses, maps, or newsgroups. Within pages, one
can search for text using the "Find" feature. |
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There is a search button that goes to Netscape's net search
page. Users can also type a string in the location bar and Navigator
will display search results. The browser includes a "Find" feature
for locating text within a page. |
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Java |
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| |
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Weight: 4 |
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Weighted
Score:
32
|
|
Weighted
Score:
32
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| |
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The browser supports Java through Microsoft's Virtual
Machine and JIT compiler. |
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Communicator includes Sun's JRE 1.3 and Symantec's JIT
compiler. |
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Multimedia
Presentation |
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| |
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Weight: 4 |
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Weighted
Score:
40
|
|
Weighted
Score:
24
|
|
| |
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|
Internet Explorer supports the major multimedia formats,
including flash, midi, wav audio, real player formats, shockwave,
and quicktime files. The standard browser installation comes with
the Windows Media Player, which will support many multimedia
formats. There are individual toggles to switch off these audio,
video, animations, and movie formats. |
|
Communicator includes many plugins to support different
multimedia formats. Standard plugins support flash, liveaudio, midi,
shockwave, real player formats. Supports other plugins such as
Apple's Quicktime. |
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| |
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Offline
Browsing |
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| |
|
Weight: 1 |
|
Weighted
Score:
5
|
|
Weighted
Score:
2
|
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| |
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|
Users can manually synchronize caching of sites up to three
levels deep or set the sites to be cached on a schedule for offline
browsing. |
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Users can browse anything in the cache while offline. The
browser has an online/offline toggle. |
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| |
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Plugin
Support |
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| |
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Weight: 5 |
|
Weighted
Score:
48
|
|
Weighted
Score:
48
|
|
| |
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|
The browser can detect whether a page requires an additional
application or plugin to properly present its contents. |
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Navigator supports third party plugins. On encountering a
page that requires a plugin not currently installed, the browser
will open a support page to install the plugin. |
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| |
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Source
Code Viewer |
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| |
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Weight: 1 |
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Weighted
Score:
2
|
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Weighted
Score:
3
|
|
| |
|
|
There is an option in the "View" menu to view page sources.
Users can also right-click on a page to get this option. Either
action displays a page's source code in the Windows
Notepad. |
|
Navigator supports viewing the source of any page by
right-clicking or choosing from the "View" menu. The view window
doesn't allow editing. |
|
| |
|
Toolbar
Customizability |
|
| |
|
Weight: 2 |
|
Weighted
Score:
8
|
|
Weighted
Score:
4
|
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| |
|
|
Users can add or remove entire toolbars. Toolbars can also
be customized by adding or deleting buttons. Buttons can be selected
in large or small sizes, or without accompanying text. |
|
The browser does not provide an easy means for customizating
the toolbar. The code however, is open source and Netscape offers an
administrative package specifically for customizing the browser.
Toolbars can be hidden by users and the personal toolbar folder can
easily hold links to bookmarks, folders, or applications. |
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Security |
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| |
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Security criteria may include but are not limited to,
standards such as SSL and SET, protection of administrative
interfaces, user and administrator access, key management (PKI),
encryption, authentication, firewalls, virus protection, and other
various security tools and features. |
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| |
|
Factor: Standard |
|
| |
|
Product Name |
Internet
Explorer
5.5 |
Netscape
Communicator
4.73 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Manufacturer |
Microsoft
Corporation |
Sun-Netscape
Alliance |
|
| |
|
|
Group Score:
214 out of 300
Total Score:
1002 out of 1460 |
|
Group Score:
156 out of 300
Total Score:
819 out of 1460 |
|
| |
|
Active
X Custom Access |
|
| |
|
Weight: 3 |
|
Weighted
Score:
12
|
|
Weighted
Score:
0
|
|
| |
|
|
Internet Explorer includes options to enable, disable, or
prompt for downloading signed and unsigned controls, scripts, and
plugins. There is an administrative approval option for running the
controls and plugins. |
|
The browser does not natively provide any special security
features for ActiveX scripts. |
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| |
|
Certificate
Features |
|
| |
|
Weight: 5 |
|
Weighted
Score:
64
|
|
Weighted
Score:
48
|
|
| |
|
|
Internet Explorer provides a set-by-step wizard for
importing and exporting personal certificates. The user can specify
a lot of advanced settings including the following purposes for the
certificate: server authentication, client authentication, code
signing, email security, time stamping, trust list signing, IP
security, file system encryption, hardware driver verification, and
Windows system component verification. The user can also set the
browser to check for publisher and server certificate
revocation. |
|
The browser uses straight forward forms to import and export
certificates. Similar forms provide a means for specifying whether
to sign and encrypt mail or news messages. The certificate features
section is in four parts: yours, people, websites, and senders.
These allow one to view a certificate and verify it against an
authority. |
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| |
|
Cookie
Acceptability |
|
| |
|
Weight: 4 |
|
Weighted
Score:
24
|
|
Weighted
Score:
24
|
|
| |
|
|
The browser provides three options (disable, enable, or
prompt) for storing cookies on the hard drive or allowing them to be
used in a session without staying on the hard drive. |
|
The browser can be set to accept all cookies, only those
sent back to the originating server, disable all, or prompt before
accepting a cookie. |
|
| |
|
Encryption
and Protocols |
|
| |
|
Weight: 5 |
|
Weighted
Score:
48
|
|
Weighted
Score:
48
|
|
| |
|
|
The browser supports SSL v2 & 3 and TLS 1.0. It also
supports 128 bit encryption for the US and most other
countries. |
|
The browser supports SSL v2 & 3 and TLS 1.0. 128 bit
encryptionis available for US and most other countries. |
|
| |
|
Encrypted
Page Caching Toggle |
|
| |
|
Weight: 3 |
|
Weighted
Score:
16
|
|
Weighted
Score:
0
|
|
| |
|
|
The browser can be set to cache or not cache pages that were
transmitted encrypted. The user can also set the browser to empty
its cache after every session. |
|
Navigator does not cache encrypted pages, so there's no need
for options to prevent them from being cached. |
|
| |
|
Java
Custom Access |
|
| |
|
Weight: 3 |
|
Weighted
Score:
16
|
|
Weighted
Score:
12
|
|
| |
|
|
Internet Explorer provides extensive customization features
for acceptable application or applet behaviors. It includes view and
edit permissions for both, signed and unsigned content. Users can
enable, disable, or set up a prompting feature for
scripts. |
|
Java access can be toggled on or off. Navigator allows for
granting or revoking applet access permissions. The browser has a
sparse amount of additional controls for customizing the type of
access applets are allowed to have. |
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| |
|
Javascript/ECMAscript
Custom Access |
|
| |
|
Weight: 2 |
|
Weighted
Score:
8
|
|
Weighted
Score:
6
|
|
| |
|
|
The browser provides extensive customization features for
acceptable behaviors. It includes view and edit permissions for
both, signed and unsigned content. Users can enable, disable, or set
up a prompting feature for scripts. The browser includes a toggle
for error messages. |
|
Similar to the controls for Java, the browser includes an
on/off toggle for Javascripts (conforming to ECMAscript standards)
and granting or revoking access permissions. There are separate
toggles for the browser and Messenger application. |
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| |
|
Predefined
Certificate Authorities |
|
| |
|
Weight: 3 |
|
Weighted
Score:
20
|
|
Weighted
Score:
12
|
|
| |
|
|
The browser lists 100-120 CAs. Authorities are easily added
through a step-by-step wizard. Each authority can have custom usage
settings. |
|
Navigator includes over fifty-three CAs. |
|
| |
|
Secure
and Unsecure Mode Warning |
|
| |
|
Weight: 2 |
|
Weighted
Score:
6
|
|
Weighted
Score:
6
|
|
| |
|
|
Users can choose whether to be prompted on entering and
leaving secure pages or on submitting forms. The browser also
displays a lock icon to indicate secure locations. |
|
A
popup window warns when the user the changes between secure and
insecure locations. The browser also displays a lock icon to signify
the security status. |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
Standards
Compliance |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Industry standards to which the product adheres. Browsers
should, at a minimum, support basic industry standards. In some
cases, browsers support additional non-standard items. The focus of
the criteria in this group is on meeting the standards. |
|
| |
|
Factor: Standard |
|
| |
|
Product Name |
Internet
Explorer
5.5 |
Netscape
Communicator
4.73 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Manufacturer |
Microsoft
Corporation |
Sun-Netscape
Alliance |
|
| |
|
|
Group Score:
250 out of 380
Total Score:
1002 out of 1460 |
|
Group Score:
188 out of 380
Total Score:
819 out of 1460 |
|
| |
|
CSS
Support |
|
| |
|
Weight: 4 |
|
Weighted
Score:
24
|
|
Weighted
Score:
8
|
|
| |
|
|
According to the W3C, only the Macintosh version supports
the entire CSS1 specification. On other platforms CSS is mostly
supported. The browser supports some CSS2 as well. |
|
Navigator supports CSS1 but the Netscape implementation of
the specification does not present everything correctly. |
|
| |
|
Display
Character Encoding |
|
| |
|
Weight: 3 |
|
Weighted
Score:
12
|
|
Weighted
Score:
12
|
|
| |
|
|
Internet Explorer supports thirty character sets, along with
unicode and user-defined or auto-select options. |
|
Navigator supports ten character sets their accompanying
dialects, a user defined option, and Unicode support. |
|
| |
|
FTP
Support |
|
| |
|
Weight: 2 |
|
Weighted
Score:
8
|
|
Weighted
Score:
6
|
|
| |
|
|
Internet Explorer supports transferring files with the File
Transfer Protocol in the browser window. It supports anonymous or
logged-in connections. The browser uses regular Microsoft file
manipulation conventions (similar to the Windows
Explorer). |
|
The browser can upload and download files using anonymous
FTP. The browser does not provide a login option. |
|
| |
|
Graphic
Standards |
|
| |
|
Weight: 4 |
|
Weighted
Score:
24
|
|
Weighted
Score:
24
|
|
| |
|
|
Internet Explorer supports GIF, JPEG, and PNG. |
|
Navigator supports GIF, JPEG, and PNG. |
|
| |
|
HTML
Versions Supported |
|
| |
|
Weight: 5 |
|
Weighted
Score:
48
|
|
Weighted
Score:
48
|
|
| |
|
|
Internet Explorer supports version 4.0 |
|
Navigator supports version 4.0 |
|
| |
|
HTTP
Versions |
|
| |
|
Weight: 5 |
|
Weighted
Score:
64
|
|
Weighted
Score:
48
|
|
| |
|
|
Internet Explorer supports HTTP versions 1.1 and 1.0. It can
toggle between these versions in case a proxy connection is
problematic. |
|
Navigator supports HTTP v1.1 |
|
| |
|
Languages |
|
| |
|
Weight: 4 |
|
Weighted
Score:
32
|
|
Weighted
Score:
24
|
|
| |
|
|
The browser supports over seventy different languages and
their related dialects. |
|
The browser supports fifty-seven language selections with
many common variations. |
|
| |
|
LDAP |
|
| |
|
Weight: 3 |
|
Weighted
Score:
8
|
|
Weighted
Score:
12
|
|
| |
|
|
When the browser is installed with the Outlook Express
application accompanying it, this component will support LDAP for
address and informational lookups. |
|
The browser can connect to an LDAP directory server to
retrieve user profiles/settings (and for email address
lookups). |
|
| |
|
MIME
Customization |
|
| |
|
Weight: 2 |
|
Weighted
Score:
6
|
|
Weighted
Score:
6
|
|
| |
|
|
MIME types are editable through the standard Windows File
Types menu in the Folder/Options tool. This tool appears on the menu
when a user puts IE in Windows Explorer mode. |
|
The user can add and edit MIME types through the browser's
preferences window. |
|
| |
|
XML
Support |
|
| |
|
Weight: 4 |
|
Weighted
Score:
24
|
|
Weighted
Score:
0
|
|
| |
|
|
Internet Explorer supports the W3C's XML 1.0
recommendation. |
|
Navigator does not currently have support for XML structured
pages though this will appear in future releases. |
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Web Browser - Extended
Options |
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Extra
features or components that while likely to complement the web
browser, are not important to its core functionality. These criteria
address features like support for sending email or accessing
newsgroups. |
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Factor: Standard |
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Product Name |
Internet
Explorer
5.5 |
Netscape
Communicator
4.73 |
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Manufacturer |
Microsoft
Corporation |
Sun-Netscape
Alliance |
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Group Score:
40 out of 100
Total Score:
1002 out of 1460 |
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Group Score:
36 out of 100
Total Score:
819 out of 1460 |
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Address
Book/Contact List |
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Weight: 3 |
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Weighted
Score:
8
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Weighted
Score:
12
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The address book isn't a part of the browser itself. Users
can get the browser bundled with Microsoft Outlook Express, which
includes an address book. |
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Communicator comes bundled with a detailed address book that
can store personal addresses or look up addresses from and LDAP
server. The address book, while part of the Communicator package, is
not technically part of the browser. |
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Calendar
Support |
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Weight: 2 |
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Weighted
Score:
2
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Weighted
Score:
0
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The browser does not include a free calendaring option.
Internet Explorer does have a setting to choose the calendar program
to use alongside the broswer. |
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The latest version of Communicator no longer includes a
calendar connection. |
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Email
Support |
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Weight: 4 |
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Weighted
Score:
16
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Weighted
Score:
8
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Any email application can be specified for use with the
browser. Outlook Express comes bundled with the browser in the
default configuration. |
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In
the Communicator package, Navigator can be used with the bundled
email application, Messenger, or connected to a different email
application. |
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HTML
Editor |
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Weight: 2 |
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Weighted
Score:
6
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Weighted
Score:
6
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Users can get the browser bundled with Frontpage Express.
Otherwise the browser can be set to use notepad or other editor for
creating HTML code. |
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Communicator includes the Netscape Composer application for
editing HTML. The browser allows for specifying a different
companion HTML editor. |
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Newsgroup
Support |
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Weight: 2 |
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Weighted
Score:
4
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Weighted
Score:
6
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Any newsreader application can be specified for use with the
browser. Outlook Express comes bundled with the browser in the
default configuration. |
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The Messenger component handles all newsgroups inline with
the email folders. |
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Synchronization |
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Weight: 2 |
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Weighted
Score:
4
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Weighted
Score:
4
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Web pages and locations can be synchronized for offline
viewing. Outlook Express includes import and export options for
sending its data to a delimited text file. |
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Users can synchronize address book information with the Palm
Pilot. |
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