with a uniform look and feel throughout.
The Netcaster reality is slightly disappointing, if only because I expected so much more. Subscribing to push content with new Netscape channels, with Marimba channels, or even just simple HTML pages is much easier than with IE 4.0, and it works well for off-line browsing. The Netcaster tab sits on the edge of your desktop and pulls out a selection panel, with standard channels displayed at the top and a pull-up panel that you can use to store your
personal channels.
However, once you set up a channel as your Webtop, the result is like throwing a plank of plywood over your desktop: Direct access to desktop icons, as with IE 4.0, is denied, and you've got to shuffle open application windows up to the top of the Webtop to make them visible and accessible.
Netcaster's channel selector panel can be configured to pull out from either the right or the left of the screen, but the tab itself won't go away; there's also a small toolbar with browser control icons for navigating through Webtop content (or back to the normal desktop). Adding channels is easy: Click on one of the preset ones shipped with Netcaster or choose the "more channels" option to go to Netscape's updated Channel Finder Web page.
Depending on what you put on the Webtop, clicking on a link on it may open yet another Navigator window, or it may simply rewrite or modify the Webtop. And though you can subscribe to as many channels as you like, only one Webtop can be active at any
given time, and each non-Webtop channel takes up at least one more window and lots of system resources. After three or four channels, I got lost in all the open windows.
With a little coding, you can create neat intranet Webtop channels, putting in tickers and other objects and letting users activate these as their desktops. Communicator is still one of the two best Internet client suites, and Netcaster adds very impressive and easy-to-use Web page subscription. While slightly less ambitious than IE 4.0, the Netcaster beta I used was more robust than the Microsoft competitor, and the Netscape product was expected to be available sooner. Netcaster is a nice addition to an already feature-rich Communicator.
Where to Find
Netcaster........................included with Communicator
Communicator.....................$59
(Windows 3.1, 95, and NT; Power
Mac; and major versions of Unix)
Netscape Communications
Mountain View, CA
Phone: 415-937-3777
Internet:
http://home.netscape.com
Enter 976 on Inquiry Card.
The Webtop Rolls Out on Netcaster
