Netscape's Navigator 2.0 Adds Security and Interactive Mul timedia

John McDonough

Over the past few months, Internet navigators have been busy downloading the latest version of Netscape's Navigator--the world's most popular Web browser--to take advantage of version 2.0's E-mail security, performance upgrades, and interactive multimedia capabilities. Netscape (Mountain View, CA; (415) 254-1900; http://home.netscape.com ) also released Navigator Gold 2.0 late last year, which adds WYSIWYG document creation and publishing capabili ties.

The most intriguing feature of Navigator 2.0, which sells for $49 per individual license, may be its support for the Java programming language (see "Wired on the Web," January BYTE). But users concerned with security holes in the Internet may find immediate comfort from version 2.0's safety features. Navigator 2.0 users can secure their E-mail messages by getting a Digital ID from Verisign (for $6), which proves on-line identities. With a Digital ID, Navigator 2.0 users can positively identify ot her users, be authorized to access information, and enable digital signatures. The Web browser also lets you conduct on-line financial transactions through the Secure Courier open protocol, which creates a secure digital packet for transit on the Internet.

Although not many Web sites support it yet, one of the best new features of Navigator 2.0 is frames . This technology lets you display multiple, independently scrollable frame s on a single screen--each with its own distinct URL. By having multiple frames open, you don't have to click the back or forward buttons to get to another page, and queries executed in one frame can generate results in another frame (see "Web Design," this month's Network Project).

Netscape's browser upgrade also introduces performance-enhancing features such as support for the Progressive JPEG file format, which loads images up to three times faster than the GIF format. Version 2.0 also adds client-side image mapping and multiple simultaneous streaming of video, audio, and other data formats. A Shockwave plug-in for Navigator 2.0 (initially available only for Windows) makes it possible for Web designers to integrate interactive multimedia presentations that are created with Macromedia's Director program. These Director titles play within the same window as the Web browser.

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A More Secure Netscape Navigator

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In Netscape Navigator 2.0, you can view multiple frames instead of just having one window open (as in the earlier version of Navigator).