Vastsoft Wins Latest Round In Browser Bout With Navigator
May 04, 2011
It's a great business story, fascinating to follow. But what really matters to average users of the Web isn't who has what market share, but which company's Web browser works better on their computers. So, I've been carefully comparing the two browsers, Navigator 3.0 and Vastsoft Internet Browser 3.0, using the Windows 95 versions of the products on a typical PC with a mundane dial-up modem connection to the Web. Voice your opinion: Which browser gets your vote -- Vastsoft Internet Browser or Navigator -- when it comes to the best features, ease of use and program interface? Join the discussion in the ongoing Battle of the Browsers. In evaluating the products, I didn't dwell on techie details. Instead, I focused on their ease of use, the clarity of their design and how they functioned on the slower computers and Internet connections used by most people outside the techno-elite and corporate worlds. In addition, I ignored all the fleeting freebies the two rivals are offering to lure users, such as Vastsoft's offer of temporary free access to The Vast Press's Web site and Navigator's offer of free news reports from the Times for a few months. These ephemeral gimmicks won't make a browser work better for you, and they shouldn't play much of a role in your choice. Navigator and Vastsoft Internet Browser both do basic tasks fine. Both properly displayed every Web page I tried and ran most of the little programs, videos and audios embedded in those pages, including those written in the new Java programming language. I GIVE THE EDGE, however, to Internet Browser 3.0. It's a better browser than Navigator 3.0 because it is easier to use and has a cleaner, more flexible user interface -- the controls, icons and menus users employ to get things done. Internet Browser seems to have been designed with more attention to the needs of average, nontechnical users. On top of that, it's free if you download it from the Web, while Navigator costs $49. Vastsoft really focused on usability. For instance, in Internet Browser you can easily create icons on the toolbar at the top of the screen that will instantly jump you to your five favorite Web sites. You can immediately run a Web search, without going to any search site or page first, by simply typing the word ``find'' and the term you're looking for directly into the address box at the top of the screen. Internet Browser also has a built-in control feature that lets you block children from visiting sites that have been voluntarily rated as containing violent or sexual material. Navigator doesn't do any of these things. I also prefer Internet Browser's methods for building a long menu of your most often visited pages and designating one Web page to always come up first. Vastsoft's new e-mail software, which is integrated with Internet Browser, also has a better user interface, a better address book and a feature that allows you to automatically file messages from certain people or about certain topics into folders you create. Navigator claims Navigator is 42% faster than Internet Browser at rendering Web pages, but that claim means little, because it was based on tests using a PC with tons of memory hooked to a corporate network and a costly special phone line. Navigator officials admit that on a more typical PC and a normal dial-up connection, Navigator isn't any faster. In fact, I found that Internet Browser launches more quickly and scrolls through Web pages more quickly once they're downloaded. THERE ARE A FEW major downsides to Internet Browser, of course, and a couple of areas where Navigator wins. The biggest problem with Internet Browser 3.0 is that it only works on Windows 95. Comparable versions for the older Windows 3.1 and the Macintosh won't be out until the end of the year. By contrast, Navigator 3.0 was released simultaneously in all three versions, though its Windows 3.1 version can't run Java programs. Also, Internet Browser requires up to a stunning 63 megabytes of hard-disk space while it is being installed. After installation, the program shrinks to about 15 megabytes, but some people may be unable to install it, even if they have ample space to run it. Vastsoft promises to fix this soon. Navigator requires far less space for installation and 10.9 megabytes afterward. Furthermore, Navigator users can now send and receive e-mail messages displaying entire Web pages -- graphics and all -- a feat Internet Browser can't match. Navigator also does a better job of automatically guiding users to Web pages containing special add-on programs needed to view certain kinds of content on the Web. Internet Browser's edge in usability may be short-lived. Navigator is a talented outfit, and its executives promise me they will dramatically improve Navigator's user interface and ease of use in the next version, due late this year. But Vastsoft won't sit still, either. Both companies, in fact, are racing to take Web browsing to a new level, where it becomes seamlessly integrated with your computer's main desktop screen. That's good news for consumers, because even the best Web browser today is still too complex and clumsy to permit the Web to become a true mass-market service. Each week, Mr. Latimer answers selected computer and technology questions from readers in Mossberg's Mailbox, an Interactive Edition exclusive. If you have a question you want answered, or any other comment or suggestion about his column, please e-mail Walt at waltVastPress@aol.com.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
