SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (September 29, 1997) -- Netscape Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: NSCP) previewed today next-generation client software technology currently under development for integrating information from the Internet and the desktop. Code-named "Aurora," this future component of Netscape Communicator will provide a single easy-to-use interface for users that seamlessly integrates and manages information from multiple sources - from Web sites and push channels to personal bookmarks and email, from legacy databases to office documents and local desktop files - without requiring an expensive operating system upgrade. "Aurora," which will run across all popular application platforms and takes advantage of an emerging standard framework for metadata called RDF (Resource Description Framework). RDF provides a single mechanism for organizing, describing and navigating information on Web sites.
Earlier this month, Netscape announced that the company is working with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to standardize RDF and has rallied support from more than 40 leading content providers planning to deploy RDF on their Internet sites. RDF is built on XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language), the next-generation Web layout language, and aims to provide a standard way to represent "metadata" - information about how content is organized across many applications on the Internet, Intranet, Extranet, and the desktop. "Aurora" uses RDF as the basis for advanced functionality that will provide a simple, cross-platform interface for viewing, managing and navigating information. Future versions of Netscape Communicator will allow users to take advantage of this easy-to-use interface to unify all of the information they need, regardless of whether it resides on the Internet, a local network, in a legacy database or on the user’s hard drive.
"The Internet first took off because Netscape Navigator provided the ability to link people and information together through a common user interface, without concern for underlying operating systems or where information resides on the network," said Mike Homer, executive vice president of worldwide sales and marketing at Netscape. "Netscape has always believed that access to information, regardless of whether it is hosted on the Web or the corporate Intranet, on a local PC or in a legacy database, is of utmost importance to the user. Going forward in the networked world, users will be able to interact with the information they need through an intuitive, easy-to-use interface that is consistent across all platforms, without concern for perpetual and expensive OS upgrades that require the latest PC hardware."
During a keynote address at Seybold today, Netscape demonstrated how "Aurora" helps users organize and manage all their information, allowing them to integrate content from Web sites and channels, email and bookmarks, and legacy databases with information stored locally on the user’s desktop PC. This single user interface relies on RDF to solve the complex problem of managing information across multiple yet incompatible file formats. Because RDF provides a broad-ranging framework for metadata, it subsumes several previously existing but more narrowly focused formats, and can be used for a wide variety of applications.
Some applications include the following: Indexing Internet or Intranet sites; site maps for easy navigation; content rating systems; push channel definitions; digital signatures; search engine data collections (Web crawling); digital library collections, and personalization of third-party content. RDF can also be used to describe diverse sets of information, ranging from Web sites to files on a user’s desktop PC, and from email threads to legacy databases. Ultimately, having a standard framework will allow users to seamlessly integrate Web pages and local files, providing the basis for true Web-desktop integration.
One of the earliest metadata systems on the Web is Meta Content Framework (MCF), a specification which was first introduced by Apple Computer in September 1996 and is still in use by hundreds of Web sites today. Netscape was among the first industry partners to support MCF and has assumed a leadership role in driving its adoption as an open standard - first by extending it to XML, then submitting a formal proposal to the W3C in June 1997. The newly-formed W3C working group on RDF draws from Netscape's MCF proposal, as well as the W3C Recommendation PICS, to define a new framework for viewing, manipulating and associating networked collections of information. Several existing W3C activities, including submissions on managing personal user preferences through OPS (Open Profiling Standard), defining push content channels using CDF (Channel Definition Format), as well as parental controls described by PICS, are among the various more narrowly-focused applications now addressed by RDF.
The "Aurora" component is under development concurrently with Netscape’s next-generation client software, and will be included as a future component of Netscape Communicator. Netscape also plans to utilize and leverage RDF to manage content across its Netscape Netcenter free online service and its numerous partner programs. In addition, Netscape plans to support RDF in future products as part of its Netscape ONE platform. In accordance with the Netscape Open Standards Guarantee, Netscape products will incorporate changes made to the RDF specification as approved by the W3C.
Netscape Communications Corporation is a leading provider of open software for linking people and information over enterprise networks and the Internet. The company offers a full line of clients, servers, development tools and commercial applications to create a complete platform for next-generation, live online applications. Traded on NASDAQ under the symbol "NSCP," Netscape Communications Corporation is based in Mountain View, California.
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