Word: browser
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...programmers, this means their pages can do more than just display pictures. Java-enabled sites will be able to act as word processors, telephones and even (if you have a TV receiver hooked up to your computer) vcrs. And although Microsoft has tried to embrace Java--its new Explorer browser will run programs written in the language--it is still seen more as a strategic weapon for Netscape, since Java software could one day compete with Microsoft products such as Word and Excel...
That put extra pressure on Microsoft to deliver a world-class browser. Explorer 2.0, the browser Microsoft released early this spring, was a poor second cousin to Navigator 2.0. Gates knew Internet Explorer 3.0 had to be far better. So the company began throwing bodies at the problem. From August to November 1995, the browser group grew from eight to 30 employees. By the time Explorer 3.0 was released last month, that number had risen...
...results were phenomenal. Microsoft critics, who had bet that Explorer 3.0 would be no more than too-little, too-late Internet technology, were silenced by the program's sheer undeniable quality. The browser's slick interface drew on Microsoft's years of consumer-products research. And though there were flaws--it has several prominent security holes, and no Macintosh version is in sight--3.0 had brightly colored, easy-to-use buttons, was cleverly designed and ran smoothly with Windows 95. In short, the thing looked like a high-grade consumer product...
...shift in attitudes was immediate. The day Explorer 3.0 hit the streets, Netizens began to create an approving buzz. And from around the Net, where Netscape had long trumpeted its 85% market share, word began to leak back that Microsoft browsers were accounting for 30%, then 40% and by last week 60% of the hits on some servers. Though Netscape still indisputably has the larger proportion of browsers, Microsoft reported that more than a million people downloaded Explorer 3.0 in its first week online, overwhelming the company's specially beefed-up servers. And while Netscape is starting to charge more...
...beginning this Christmas, Web surfers will be able to boot up Explorer 4.0. Though the software for the program is still in its infant stage in Redmond, TIME got a sneak preview. The new browser is fully integrated with the computer desktop. Users will turn on their computers and be presented not with an ungainly collection of files and folders but with a lush desktop that includes the latest news, instant access to content from across the Web, and a specialized version of the browser that looks at both local files and data from around the Web. Explorer 4.0, when...