Windows runs roughly 90 percent of the world's personal computers. Netscape is expected to bring out a new version of its Navigator later this year. We've got the ability to get our browser out. At the end of the day, users choose,'' Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said at a low-key ceremony at the company's television studios. The new software, the fifth version of Internet Explorer, will be the centerpiece of an upgrade to the Windows 98 operating system this fall.
Several analysts say the new launch helps keep the product fresh.
Gates said the new browser is easy for Internet businesses to customize with their own features. For example, AltaVista will provide foreign-language translation of Web pages. It also will offer Vista Tracker, a personalized window in the browser that is constantly updated with news, weather, sports and stock information, no matter where else a user might go on the Web. This fall, Microsoft will bring out Windows 98 Special Edition, an upgrade that will incorporate Internet Explorer 5.0 and other new technologies, most notably, Internet Connection Sharing. That technology will allow consumers to run up to four different computers simultaneously over a single Internet access account.