TECHWATCH

THE GREAT BROWSER BRAWL, ROUND 4.0

In the short history of the Web, August and September have been big months for browsers. Like car companies, Microsoft and Netscape use the early fall to roll out their latest creations. This year is no exception. Netscape unveiled a souped-up version of Communicator 4.0 in late August, and Microsoft will unwrap Explorer 4.0 this week. Both programs are jammed with features, most of which have the effect of making the Web more like TV. Each browser has "channels" for content, and onscreen control pads that evoke a TV remote.

As good as they are technologically, the browsers also mark the end of an age of (relative) commercial innocence on the Net, in which software written in one place worked in another. These "open" standards were one of the charms of the original Web. Every one of its millions of pages could be read by any browsing program. Opening a page was as straightforward (and error-free) as opening a novel. No more. Both firms, intent on boosting market share, have loaded their programs with noncompatible features, so data configured for Netscape can look like mush on Explorer. As exciting as it is to see such slick Web products, it's sad to see the Net's wide-open ethos finally evaporate.

MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER 4.0 download at www.microsoft.com/ie/

GOOFPROOF: A smart "autocomplete" function fills in the full name of Websites after you've typed just a few characters

TUNE IN: Microsoft's display window offers state-of-the-art Web pages that include embedded audio, 3-D and video clips

SPLIT PERSONALITY: 500 companies, including Disney and NBC, "broadcast" new content to IE browsers every day

FLASH MEMORY: "Live" tickers scroll across the screen with the latest news, sports and stock prices

NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR 4.0 download at www.netscape.com/communicator/

TVWEB: Netscape has signed up 700 firms, from MTV to USA Today, to deliver interactive news and entertainment

QUICK CLICKS: This floating task bar lets users quick-click through the program

LUSH LETTERS: Users can send E-mail that includes pictures, sound and Web links

SCREEN SAVER: In Communicator, "pages" take a back seat to multimedia that's more like a CD-ROM or, guess what, TV