Internet Explorer vs. Netscape Navigator 2.0 Browser Wars

Introduction: The Browser Wars Begin

Most people in 2005 had accessed the World Wide Web, and chances are they used Microsoft Internet Explorer to do it. In 1995, the situation was quite different: far fewer people had accessed the Web, and most of those who had used Netscape Navigator. Microsoft saw Netscape and the Web as a competitive threat to its operating system business and launched its own browser to compete. The release of version 2 of each browser represented the real beginning of the "browser wars" of the 1990s.

Netscape Navigator 2.0 is a more mature product than Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0; however, Internet Explorer 2.0 has several user-interface features that are better designed. Internet Explorer is less focused on directing users to specific websites than Netscape is, and appears cleaner as a result. Netscape's menus offer more options than those in Internet Explorer, but many of those options are simply permanent bookmarks of Netscape websites. The help systems differ significantly: Internet Explorer has a small number of included HTML help files, while Netscape has a comprehensive online manual. Netscape has a significantly more sophisticated bookmarking system, which includes support for folders and generally resembles what would be found in a modern web browser. Netscape has broader support for web technologies, including frames, Java, and JavaScript, though both browsers support the basics of HTML as well as more advanced features such as images and tables. Both browsers are fairly unstable, and remained so for a number of release cycles after version 2.0, due to the intense competition between the two companies.

User Interface Design and Button Layout

When Microsoft licensed Spyglass Mosaic, Netscape already had a head start. Not only was the browser more mature, but many users equated Netscape's browser software with the Internet in much the same way that users did with Internet Explorer in 2005. Users were familiar with Netscape's feature set, menu layout, and its notably large, blocky buttons. Internet Explorer 2.0 is essentially a re-badged version of Spyglass Mosaic (Sink, 2003). The user interface is cleaner, more compact, and resembles the original graphical browser that both are based on: NCSA Mosaic.

Internet Explorer's buttons are small but well organized and easy to click. By default, only an icon is shown, and text appears when the mouse pointer hovers over a button. Netscape's icons are larger, but less colorful and somewhat less clear in their meaning. Text labels are shown by default alongside icons, and the clickable button areas are very large, with groups separated by wide divisions. Netscape appears as if it was designed for users who have difficulty using a mouse. Netscape also has a second row of buttons below the address field containing links to Netscape's own websites, although these are styled to appear as standard user-interface buttons. This design element serves as a window into the underlying business models of the two companies. Both browsers were provided as free downloads, and both companies expected to make money through sales and advertising by using their browsers to drive customers to their websites — but this was a far more significant source of income for Netscape, since Microsoft's primary business was not web browsers.

Menu Structure and Navigation

Netscape has nine menus compared to Explorer's six. While Netscape has more features overall, that alone does not fully account for the difference in menus. Netscape attempts to add every feature users could possibly want, and requires additional space to accommodate those features. Menus that extend below the bottom of the screen tend to frustrate users, and most screens were at fairly low resolution when Netscape Navigator 2.0 was released. Netscape also uses the menu bar to promote its websites, with a "Directory" menu containing sites selected by Netscape that cannot be edited by the user.

Most of the menus common to both browsers are essentially the same, with differences only in the order and names of some items. One significant difference is that recently visited pages are listed in the File menu in Explorer and the Go menu in Netscape. This decision reflects Microsoft's relative inexperience with the Web; the placement mirrors the list of recent files found in Microsoft Word.

Conclusion: Two Browsers for Different Audiences

Netscape Navigator 2.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0 are appropriate for different audiences, though both vendors make a number of design decisions inappropriate for their intended users. Explorer has a clean interface that a skilled user can navigate quickly, though some primary functions are not as obviously labeled for beginners as they are in Netscape. Expert users are also likely to be frustrated by the relative lack of features. Netscape has annoyingly large buttons and excessive clutter in its user interface, but offers the features that advanced users are likely to need.

Explorer's menus are simple, while Netscape's are cluttered. Netscape's help system is comprehensive, covering every feature of the browser, but is so unwieldy that it practically needs a help system of its own. Explorer's help system is easy to navigate and covers the vast majority of relevant topics. Netscape's bookmark system is vastly superior to Explorer's, offering metadata for every bookmark as well as the ability to organize bookmarks into folders with metadata of their own. Netscape supports more web features than Explorer, but many are of little use for conveying or organizing information and tend to serve as distractions when overused. Explorer has slightly better support for simple, standard features such as colored table cells.

Ultimately, both browsers are badly designed, hurried products. A focus on web standards compliance and thorough testing, rather than rapid releases and feature proliferation, would have produced better software — but the browser market in 1995 did not allow for that kind of patience.

Feature Comparison Table

General

Vendor: Explorer — Microsoft; Navigator — Netscape

Business model: Explorer — Protect OS monopoly, drive visitors to website; Navigator — Drive visitors to website, sell server software

User Interface

Menus: Explorer — 6; Navigator — 9

Location of help: Explorer — Local; Navigator — Online

Web Features

JavaScript: Explorer — No; Navigator — Yes

Java: Explorer — No; Navigator — Yes

Frames: Explorer — No; Navigator — Yes

Bookmarks

Folders: Explorer — No; Navigator — Yes

Metadata: Explorer — Title only; Navigator — Title, date added, last visited, description

Folder metadata: Explorer — N/A; Navigator — Name, date added, last visited, description

Works Cited

Raymond, Eric. (2005, February 2). "The HTML Hell Page." Retrieved March 19, 2005, from http://www.catb.org/~esr/html-hell.html

Schapel. (2005, April 7). "Browser Wars." Wikipedia. Retrieved March 19, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_wars

Sink, Eric. (2003, April 15). "Memoirs From the Browser Wars." Retrieved March 19, 2005, from http://software.ericsink.com/Browser_Wars.html