Netscape Communicator 4.7 Interesting New Features and Gadgets! Douglas Smith
With AOL owning controlling interest in Netscape, many new features have been added. AOL's latest update to Netscape's Web browser suite, Communicator Version 4.7, adds both shopping capabilities (through Shop@Netscape) and music playback (via Netscape Radio and Winamp 2.5). Several software components have been updated in this release as well, including AOL Instant Messenger 3.0 and Macromedia Flash 4. In addition, version 4.7 includes an assortment of bug fixes; several security updates; new 56-bit DES ciphers and a simplified process for obtaining digital certificates. There is now a shopping button built right into the top toolbar. When clicked, a page opens with many different shopping categories at Shop@Netscape. Shopping categories include computing, pets, home, sports and travel, plus other points of interest. Added to this version of Communicator is Winamp 2.5, the music player. Winamp supports MP3, CD and Windows Media audio, among other formats. Using Winamp is as simple as can be, and after setup it performed flawlessly. Communicator's keyword search feature has been improved, too. Now simply type in a search keyword--as an example, type in "quotes" followed by a space and then "Compaq" and you will get stock quotes for Compaq. This is a really great feature, and will cut many hours off of massive searches of the net.
