It also lets you customize how this keyword search behaves. For one thing, Internet Explorer lists its main guess and the next-best hunches in a rectangular window to the left of the main Web-page screen, with a description of each site. Internet Explorer did a better job of this than Navigator, in my tests. If you type in a common company name or phrase, such as 'Merrill Lynch' or 'White House,' Internet Explorer, like Navigator, takes you to the Web site you probably want. Internet Explorer also matches the two key features Netscape introduced last year: the listing of related Web sites and the ability to guess which Web site you want when you don't know the full address. Web pages also load quite speedily, though in my tests the rival browsers were about equally quick at downloading common sites. The latest version of Netscape Navigator, version 4.51, takes about 18 seconds to launch. On my undistinguished Windows 98 test computer, a 266 MHz Pentium II with 64 megabytes of memory, IE5 starts up in about 10 seconds.
The first thing you notice about IE5 is its speed. The changes strengthen my view that Outlook Express is the best Internet e-mail program, better even than Microsoft's much-touted but ponderous Outlook 98.
In addition, Microsoft has upgraded Internet Explorer's free companion e-mail program, Outlook Express, adding features and sophistication while preserving its speed and ease of use.
