The Web your way, Netscape beats Microsoft to the punch by incorporating 'push' technology in its browser

Netscape, in a move designed to take some of the wind out of Microsoft's sails, has accelerated the introduction of "push" technology into its Communicator browser. A test version of Communicator incorporating a new feature called Netcaster will be available through Netscape's Web site later this month, and a final version will go on sale by June 30. The technology wasn't expected until later this year.

Push technology sends on-line information to the user's desktop, eliminating the need for long searches. It makes Web sites more like on-line tickers, says Marc Andreessen, Netscape's senior vice president of technology.

"The central problem the consumer has is finding information that's relevant," he says. "With this technology, both consumers and business users can receive rich content automatically and view favorite sites and channels off-line."

The technology is based on HTML, Java and JavaScript, and will let content providers turn existing Web content into subscription-based channels without having to recode the content or go through a middleman to reach the audience.

Netcaster features a channel model, giving subscribers updated, personalized information. In a strategy similar to that used in network computing, some of the data is stored in its own off-line cache, enabling users to experience dynamic content without waiting for pages to load.

Users can customize what, when and how often channel information gets pushed to their desktops.

Netcaster also introduces the concept of a Webtop, or a channel anchored to the desktop that gives users a full-screen environment "where information flows freely and content helps define the user experience," Andreessen says. Users can choose a favorite channel as their Webtop and still maintain access to other channels and to data stored on the local hard drive.

To tune in new channels, the system includes a Channel Finder guide to what Netscape will determine to be the best channels on the Web. Space in the Channel Finder menu could end up going to the highest bidder at some point, Andreessen says.

In addition, the Castanet Tuner, part of Marimba Inc.'s Castanet System for push content delivery and enterprise-wide software deployment, is integrated into Netcaster. The tuner gives users seamless access to Castanet channels and gives channel developers more options for automated content delivery and application management.

The accelerated release of Netcaster, which Andreessen jokes makes it "the first ahead-of-schedule software release of all time," gives the Mountain View, Calif.-based Netscape a head start on rival Microsoft, which won't incorporate push features into a test version of its Internet Explorer 4.0 until June and won't have a full-fledged release until later this summer. Last month, Microsoft announced specifications for what it calls "channel definition format," or CDF, which it says has attracted 30 companies' support.

Andreessen discounts Microsoft's initiative as unnecessary, predicting it will "wither on the vine." A number of Internet publishers are signed up to support both standards, as are several software developers, including Diffusion, DataChannel, Freeloader and Wayfarer.