Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.0 is a feature-rich browser that supports HTML 3.2, enhanced stylesheets, ActiveX controls, and Java, according to officials at the Redmond, Wash. company. For example, IE 3.0 will allow Web designers and users to create graphics with overlapping multiple background objects, they explain. In addition, ActiveX controls will allow IE 3.0 to integrate Java applets and HTML documents.

Comparing their product with the latest release of Navigator, Microsoft officials say only IE 3.0 supports features such as rating controls, multilingual viewing, and W3C.

Microsoft's plans beyond IE 3.0 are even more ambitious. Slated to ship by the end of the year, IE 4.0 will offer seamless integration into the Windows environment by allowing users to alternate between the browser and the operating system on one screen. "[Microsoft is] pushing hypertext transport to the computer level," says Kathey Hale, an analyst with Dataquest Inc., San Jose, Calif. "That's the challenge for Netscape."

However, Bob Lisbonne, Netscape's vice president of client product marketing, says there are five issues Microsoft has to deal with when comparing IE with Navigator.

First, IE 3.0 takes up 50 percent more disk space than Navigator, which occupies just over 6MB with a full installation.

Second, Navigator 3.0 is safer than IE 3.0, Lisbonne says, because it supports Secure Sockets Layer 3.0, digital certificates, and has built-in 128-bit security.

Third, Lisbonne claims Navigator 3.0 is supported by 16 platforms. By comparison, IE 3.0 runs only on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0. Versions that support the Macintosh, Unix, and Windows 3.1 are expected in the fourth quarter.

Fourth, Lisbonne says IE 3.0 does not offer HTML editing capabilities, while Netscape's Navigator Gold provides the same capabilities as Navigator, plus WYSIWYG editing and live Web page creation with one-button publishing.

Finally, Navigator allows users to send graphics, forms, and plug-ins over Netscape Mail, while IE users have to create attachments for file formats other than plain text.