By Doug Bedell

Staff Writer of The News

It's nothing like the old "browser war" days, but Netscape 6 Preview Release 1 offers some hope as a future alternative to Internet Explorer -- the software of choice for more than 70 percent of computers on the Internet.

Netscape, now under the wing of new owner AOL, still has some work to do on this browser, a by-product of the troubled Mozilla open-source development effort (www.mozilla.org).

It is intended only for those who might want an advanced look at a work in progress. But most of the new features appear fully functional, and surfers have made it a top choice for download on numerous sites since its release April 5.

Netscape 6 joins two other minor upgrades for popular browsers hitting the Web this month. IE 5 arrived for Macintosh computers at www.microsoft.com/mac/download/en/default.asp. and a beta release IE 5.5 for Windows made a quiet debut inside the Microsoft Developer Network (msdn.microsoft.com). IE 5.5 boasts "improved navigation performance" and a print-preview function not available in early versions of IE 5.

Meanwhile, the third beta release of Opera 4.0 came online April 11 at www.opera.com. This small browser (2MB) features an integrated cookie manager that allows better control over what information Web sites can store on your hard drive. ZDnet's found this a popular offering, ranking it in the top five percent of all downloads.

Netscape 6 -- available in Windows, Mac and Linux versions at home.netscape.com/download/previewrelease.html?cp=dosea -- is remarkably small, a radical departure from the huge "bloatware" offerings of Communicator 4X and IE 5. (AOL has abolished the Communicator and Navigator names).

The thin download is perhaps the most compelling reason for Netscape 6. Its installer is less than 300K and allows you to customize your installation with only the components you desire. The entire browser is only 5.5 Mb -- about 30 percent smaller than a similarly configured version of Internet Explorer.

The look is noticeably spare. The aqua, blue and gray Netscape 6 interface is dominated by huge navigation buttons on the upper left and the new My Sidebar feature running down the left rail.

My Sidebar may be My Annoyance to many surfers, who don't want to scrunch down their viewing window any further. It takes up quite a bit of space, much like IE's Explorer bars. But with IE, at least you can get rid of the sidebar by closing it out with a single mouse click. My Sidebar can be eliminated only by sliding it to the left. It never completely disappears.

There is probably good reason for that design from AOL's point of view. My Sidebar is heavily peppered with options distributed by AOL, including AOL's Instant Messenger. However, the browser in its current state does not detect previous AIM installations, making configuration a hassle.

The melding of AIM with Netscape Mail allows a huge jump in flexibility. For example, when an AIM user sends a letter, you have the option of sending an instant message back instead of writing an e-mail. Eudora, Outlook and Outlook Express address books, saved mail, and other settings can also be easily imported.

The spare look of the browser may be changeable in later releases. "Skins" -- theme-based overlays of the basic Netscape 6 design -- will be offered and developed by third parties as the browser nears final beta. Right now, however, you're stuck with the aqua and gray.

A Cookie Manager feature enables users to preview the information Web sites are storing about you on your hard drive and allows blocking of cookies from specified domains.

There's also a Password Manager, which can save and encrypt your passwords to consumer sites so you don't have to re-enter them.

And a built-in translation engine is kind of nifty. Although slow, it makes a decent effort at translating any foreign language Web page into passable English using the Teletranslator engine.

But the Mozilla.org developers -- plagued by rampant defections since Netscape sold out to AOL -- has struggled to crank out this new offering, and it shows. Although the browser has been praised for its improved support for the many display standards being used by Web pages today, it contains some drawbacks.

Our version -- Build 20000033112 -- would not render Webcam programs for live streaming. Difficulties were also encountered when highlighting and stripping copy from Internet pages. And it's supposed to be Java compliant, but not all

Java-based chat rooms function properly.

Other popular features are noticeably absent, such as a history list of Web sites visited and auto-completion of Web addresses.

And the browser seems to have trouble rendering pages with heavy graphics, grinding down to a snail's pace when matched with IE 5 and IE 5.01.

Beyond that, Netscape 6 PR1 comes without an ininstall program, although it installs into its own separate directory and won't harm current Netscape settings.

If you want to get rid of it, you'll have to delete the folder from your drive.

The bottom line for most users: Proceed with caution, but Netscape 6 is definitely worth a look.

Staff Writer Doug Bedell can be contacted by writing dbedell@dallasnews.com