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A Closer Look

Reviews Mixed On Netscape's Communicator

Netscape announced last week the availability of a cross-platform beta version of Netscape Communicator while early evaluators wrestled with how--or if--the new client suite fits into their collaborative computing strategies.

Netscape has positioned Communicator as an open standards browsing, e-mail, and groupware client, but Microsoft and Lotus both offer fully Web-integrated and time-tested products for e-mail and groupware that are ahead of Netscape in market share. Even Communicator testers who are fans of Navigator--the browser that represents a piece of Communicator--weren't certain whether the client suite and its companion servers will become their e-mail or groupware solutions.

"It appears that Netscape's new feature set still requires Lotus Domino for the complete solution," said Dan Mallin, electronic marketing manager at Imation Corp., Minneapolis, which makes floppy disks and other storage media. Mallin said Imation, where Navigator is standard on the intranet, was enthusiastic about Communicator's support for the IMAP4 e-mail standard and LDAP directory standard.

Curt Helvey, an IS executive at Amdahl Corp., Santa Clara, Calif., said Amdahl will roll out Communicator later this year, but will continue to deploy Lotus Notes/Domino for collaboration. Because the standard desktop suite is Microsoft Office 97, Microsoft's mail and groupware product, Exchange 5.0, will also be used.

When released commercially next quarter, Communicator will offer five components: Navigator 4.0; Composer, an HTML authoring tool; the Messenger e-mail client; Collabra group discussion software, and Conference for document collaboration. A beta for Windows 95 was released previously.

The news last week was the release of betas for Windows NT, 3.1, Mac, and several Unix platforms. The new beta also has dynamic HTML, which includes dynamic style sheets to support Cascading Style Sheets and JavaScript style sheets. The new release supports IIOP, IMAP4, and LDAP.

Netscape also posted the beta of its Netscape Communicator Professional Edition, which adds Calendar for group scheduling, AutoAdmin for configuring and updating preferences on the Communicator interface, and IBM 3270 terminal emulation.

Some early evaluators seem hesitant about Communicator because of its similarity in some but not all respects to desktop suites like Office 97 and Lotus SmartSuite 97, both of which are highly integrated with the Internet and contain groupware features.

"If I truly want a browser or simple e-mail package, why do I want all that other stuff" on Communicator, asked Clay Ryder, an analyst at Zona Research. But because the other stuff is limited compared to a desktop suite, "where does Communicator play in an office that already has Office 97?" he added.

Two organizations with similar desktop environments, technical work forces, and previous commitment to Netscape, illustrate the different ways in which companies are viewing Communicator.

Sandia National Laboratories, a federal agency, will soon roll out a CORBA framework that needs IIOP support. "Communicator is crucial to us," said Fran Current, the CORBA project leader.

Sandia, based in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., has about 8,000 clients on its intranet using PCs, Macs, and Unix workstations. "The Web is the most efficient way to deliver apps in a cross-platform shop," Current said.

Sandia's standard browser is Navigator 3.0, and it plans to roll out Communicator later this year.

But Notes and Exchange are the platforms of choice for many work groups, said John Larson, Internet project leader. One reason, he said, is the ease with which applications can be built, especially for Notes/Domino. He added: "Notes and Exchange will work great for individual lines of business, but at the enterprise level we don't think so." He said Sandia is leaning toward Netscape to replace its Lotus cc:Mail and Microsoft MS Mail packages.

Quantum Corp., a maker of tape and disk drives, is in a quandary over whether to continue to use Netscape as its standard browser when Communicator comes out.

"We're not saying we're ready to go with Microsoft, but we are hedging our bets more," said Ron McGowan, a systems architect responsible for Quantum's intranet, which has 4,000 employees on it, primarily PC users but some also with Macs and Unix.

The company's desktop suite is Office, and 97 is being deployed. "Our view of Communicator is it needs Word and Excel," he said. "We could do everything with Office 97." Companies already entrenched in a groupware solution will be hard to budge. Hugh Brownstone, a vice president at IMS America Ltd., which provides market research to the pharmaceuticals industries, said he told Netscape: "Demonstrate that what you have is superior to Lotus Notes." IMS America, which uses Navigator 3.0 on its intranet, has used Notes for several years for collaboration.

Companies without any groupware installed, on the other hand, are more receptive to Netscape.

"I haven't heard of any [Communicator features] we're not going to take advantage of," said Steve Wolff, manager of electronic communications at J.C. Penney Co., Plano, Texas. The retailer runs a mixed computing environment where most of the 4,000 employees on the intranet use Navigator 3.0. search: BROWSERS, GROUPWARE

Reprinted from Web Week, Volume 2, Issue 12, August 19, 1996 © Mecklermedia Corp.