[2239] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
PR: Netscape Navigator for OS/2 Warp
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Timothy F. Sipples)
Sat Dec 21 03:39:32 1996
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: 21 Dec 1996 08:20:43 GMT
From: tsipple@us.ibm.com (Timothy F. Sipples)
Reply-To: tsipple@us.ibm.com (Timothy F. Sipples)
Reply-to: tsipple@us.ibm.com (Timothy F. Sipples)
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IBM ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR FOR OS/2
AUSTIN, Texas, December 16, 1996 . . . IBM today announced the availability
this week of a native OS/2* version of the Netscape Navigator** browser.
Running on OS/2 Warp 4, the new version allows Netscape Navigator users to
surf the Internet with simple voice commands for the first time with a
shipping product.
"The marriage of the industry's most popular Web browser with the industry's
premier client operating system solution for network computing-based
environments is ideal," said Donn Atkins, vice president of marketing, IBM
Personal Software Products. "This announcement is an example of our recently
announced commitment to bring OS/2-based products to market on a Web year
delivery cycle."
The software, which runs on OS/2 Warp 4, OS/2 Warp Version 3 and OS/2 Warp
Connect, is available as a free download from both the Netscape home page at
http://www.netscape.com/ and the IBM Software home page at
http://www.software.ibm.com/ . IBM will continue to work with Netscape on the
development of native OS/2 versions of upgrades to Navigator 2.02, including
version 4.0, code-named "Communicator."
"With the announcement of native Netscape Navigator support in OS/2, IBM
continues the development evolution of the universal enterprise communications
client," said Frank Dzubeck, president, Communications Network Architects,
Inc. "By combining voice input and Internet information access capabilities,
IBM has extended the network computing goal of information technology ease of
use for everyone."
In addition to broadening the scope of content currently available to OS/2
customers via the Internet, Netscape Navigator for OS/2 allows users of OS/2
Warp 4 to navigate the Internet with voice commands. Because it supports the
IBM VoiceType speech recognition capabilities built into OS/2 Warp 4, users
can simply tell their computer to "jump" to a site on the Internet and
subsequently move around within that site by saying the names of links or
commands such as "page up," "scroll down," or "back."
Netscape Navigator, which recently won PC Magazine's Technical Excellence
Award for Best Application Software Product of 1996, is an ideal tool for
accessing information on the Internet, offering users a powerful, flexible and
easy-to-use environment. With Netscape Navigator, OS/2 users will have a
native, Java***-enabled Web client which includes the features that have made
Netscape Navigator today's most popular Internet client software, with
approximately 40 million users worldwide.
Some of the features that will be new to OS/2 users include:
o Support for selected Windows 3.1 multimedia plug-ins, which extend the
capabilities of Netscape Navigator by providing the ability to support and
view various applications.
o Support for plug-in extensions that enable third-party developers and users
to develop native OS/2 multimedia plug-ins based on the Netscape plug-in
API.
o Frame support, which allows users to specify multiple, independent,
scrollable areas within a display window. Each frame can include a
separate document and can be resized and linked to other documents.
o Built-in JavaScript, which extends and enhances the capabilities of HTML
(HyperText Markup Language) documents and allows users to open and view
live Java applets and applications.
o Netscape's HTML-enabled mail and news applications, which allow users to
send and receive dynamic messages, including content from Netscape's
popular Inbox Direct Program.
In addition, OS/2 users will have Netscape Navigator's point-and-click
navigation, caching, threaded discussion groups, file transfers, and other
Internet services in a seamlessly integrated package. Netscape Navigator for
OS/2 also provides drag-and-drop capabilities, which allow users to drag URLs,
images or mail items into folders, an HTML window or to the desktop.
Improved Support for Java
-------------------------
Netscape Navigator 2.02 for OS/2 also ships with the new beta of Java v1.0.2
for OS/2, replacing v1.0.1, the version of Java that shipped with OS/2 Warp 4.
The beta of Java v1.0.2 for OS/2 boosts the performance of Java-based
applications by approximately 35 to 40 percent over v1.0.1. In addition, Java
v.1.0.2 provides tightened network security policy to protect IP addresses and
host names, and class interface changes to prevent programs from performing
unauthorized and potentially harmful tasks at the client. Java v1.0.2 for
OS/2 will be generally available in January.
OS/2 Warp 4
-----------
The first Intel-based PC operating system solution to integrate speech
navigation and dictation as well as Java technology, OS/2 Warp 4 is the
leading client-based operating system solution in today's intranet/Internet
environment. OS/2 Warp 4 provides OS/2 users with the battle-tested engine
they are familiar with in OS/2 Warp Version 3, and an improved user interface
and easy Internet access. OS/2 Warp 4 will run in heterogeneous environments
with enhanced hardware and software compatibility, offering users true
cross-platform performance in a network computing environment.
IBM VoiceType Speech Recognition Technology
-------------------------------------------
In addition to today's news, IBM announced last week the availability of a
beta version of VoiceType Connection NS Edition, which works with the Windows
**** 95 version of Netscape Navigator 3.0 and is available as a free download
from the Internet. VoiceType Connection integrates IBM's award-winning
VoiceType speech recognition technology with popular software titles, like
Netscape Navigator, to make them speech-aware.
With more than twenty years of research in the field, IBM set the industry
standard for speech and voice recognition when it launched the VoiceType
family of products. For more information about VoiceType products, visit the
World Wide Web at <http://www.ibm.com/voicetype>.
About Netscape
--------------
Netscape Communications Corporation is a premier provider of open software,
linking people and information over enterprise networks and the Internet.
Netscape's products are based on open industry standards and protocols, and
are compatible with the installed base of World Wide Web clients and services.
The company offers a full line of clients, servers, development tools and
commercial applications to create a complete platform for next-generation,
live on-line applications. Traded on NASDAQ as the symbol "NSCP," Netscape
Communications Corporation is based in Mountain View, Calif.
###
* OS/2 and VoiceType are registered trademarks of IBM Corp.
** Netscape and Netscape Navigator are trademarks of Netscape Communications
Corp.
*** Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
All other product and service names may be trademarks and/or service marks of
their respective owners.
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