Netscape Netcaster

Netcaster is a channel-based "push" technology add-on client for Netscape Communicator that directly competes with Internet Explorer 4.0's Active Channels client. Although the program can currently only be downloaded using Communicator 4.0's smart update feature, future releases of Communicator are expected to include Netcaster as well. Netcaster was originally designed to be the focus of the next major release of Netscape Navigator (version 5.0). Then came the decision to integrate Netcaster (which was previously designed under the codename of Constellation) into Communicator, presumably in order for the client to better to compete with the new release of Internet Explorer and its Active Channels client. The question that many users will be asking is whether or not push technology is even necessary. The supposed selling point of push technology is that you no longer need to manually request or search for information for a given area of interest. On the other hand, more often than not push technology gives you far more information than you could ever want or need. Whether a client like Netcaster actually does more to help or hinder your pursuit of information is a question that will most likely vary depending on the individual user. Some users will prefer the push capabilities of a client like Netcaster or Active Channels, while other users will prefer the "old-fashioned" pull technology of a web browser or FTP client. More likely than not, though, your future will involve some combination of the two. Like PointCast, Backweb, and other clients that rely on push technology to dynamically deliver information to your desktop, Netcaster allows you to subscribe to content channels that serve roughly the same function as a TV or radio broadcast channel. Netcaster periodically downloads new information for channels that you have subscribed to. This is done in the background while you browse the web or work on other tasks; then you can later view the entire channel offline at your convenience. Current Netcaster channel providers include Money Magazine, Wired, CNNfn, CBS SportsLine, Lycos, Infoseek, ABCNews.com, C/Net, and (of course) Netscape. Look for future providers to include the likes of ZDNet, Yahoo, and ESPNet SportsZone. Netcaster also gives you the ability to subscribe to any channel that is based on Marimba's Castanet technology. This technology enables more than just the delivery of web content -- it makes the automatic delivery and updating of software applications possible as well. Users can also download any web site in the background on a scheduled basis using Netcaster. Unlike Internet Explorer, which requires web sites to implement and maintain Channel Definition Format (CDF) files in order to become an Active Channel, Netcaster channels do not need any changes to be made to a web site's server or content. This ultimately benefits providers just as much if not more than it does users because netcasting can be implemented more flexibly using the existing open standards of HTML, Java, and JavaScript than it can using the proprietary Channel Definition Format. Netcaster also offers a webtop feature that allows you to anchor a subscribed channel to your desktop. This works in a similar fashion to Internet Explorer's Active Desktop except for the fact that there is no actual integration between the Netcaster client and the Windows operating system. This presents one advantage for Netcaster in that it is designed from the beginning as a cross-platform network interface that will work on more than just Windows platforms. Netcaster and the technology itself are both in their infancy and the results show. The preview release of the client is a serious resource hog and is slower than molasses, but future releases should benefit from attention to optimization and improvements in speed. By its official release, this client should be on an equal level with the Navigator web browser in terms of speed and use of resources. There are also a shortcoming of attractive, information-rich channels currently available; a situation that should also resolve itself by Netcaster's official date of release. Most channels are currently little more than typical web sites with a presentation-like interface. Yet despite its shortcomings, Netcaster (as well as the competing Active Channels client) is still the app most likely to dethrone The Pointcast Network from its push technology throne. While the day for this has obviously not yet arrived and likely won't do so for several more months, the signs of a new revolution have already begun to appear and that could spell serious trouble for Pointcast and other standalone push clients. Pros: Push technology built into the web browser, solid selection of channels, any web site can be a channel Cons: The client is very slow and demands a ton of system resources; is push technology really better than pull? For the latest information on Netcaster, check out: http://cws.internet.com/32www.html#netcast apps conference Main Menu