FRAMINGHAM (09-19-95) - When it comes to sheer numbers, Netscape Communications Corp. may be the king of the World-Wide Web, but companies such as InterCon Systems Corp. and NaviSoft Inc. are angling to take the throne.
InterCon this week began shipping NetShark, a Web browser with integrated multimedia Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions electronic mail. The firm is taking a clear poke at Netscape, whose next-generation Navigator will handle multimedia document types like Adobe Portable Document Format.
While NetShark will butt up against Netscape Navigator 2.0 in its support for Adobe PDF, GIF, Apple Quicktime and other document types, NetShark falls short in its lack of support for Macromedia Directory File and Sun Microsystems Inc. Java, analysts said.
"NetShark has a good client user interface, but it's not yet supporting Java," noted Steve Franco, an analyst at The Yankee Group consultancy in Boston.
Following Netscape's strategy, InterCon intends to build its business by initially giving away software and then selling the more full-featured commercial version.
InterCon will offer NetShark free from its Web site, while the retail version will sell for $39.95 in stores next month, said David Salwen, InterCon director of operations.
Last week, InterCon also began shipping a Macintosh-based Internet server, filling an important gap left by Netscape and other vendors. Called InterServer Publisher, the Macintosh Web server will initially cost $495, increasing to $795 in October.
NaviSoft, which had outflanked Netscape in publishing and Web management tools, now finds Netscape on the attack with Navigator Gold 2.0 and the LiveWire suite. Fighting back, NaviSoft last week emphasized its commitment to support multimedia document types in its NaviPress authoring tool by joining with Macromedia Inc. to support its Director files.
InterCon: (703) 709-5500; NaviSoft: (703) 448-8700.
[Copyright 1995 Network World (US), International Data Group Inc. All rights reserved.]