Europa Software Ships Web Quick 1.2 for Windows 95.PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 1996-- Enhances Web Browsers The following is a list of web browsers. Historical Historically important browsers In order of release:
Menus, Checks Changed Pages Europa Software Inc. (Europa) today announced its debut Windows 95 product, Web Quick 1.2, is available on the World-Wide Web (World-Wide Web, networking, hypertext) World-Wide Web - (WWW, W3, The Web) An Internet client-server hypertext distributed information retrieval system which originated from the CERN High-Energy Physics laboratories in Geneva, Switzerland. for immediate download. Top Web Navigation Hassles Addressed Company President Adrian Russell-Falla says Web Quick 1.2, available for free 15-day trial at Europa's web site, http://www.europasoftware.com/, addresses the top Web navigation challenges faced by beginning and advanced web users. "The challenge of rapidly locating a Web page, even one you've recently seen, is a lot like the challenge of efficiently and quickly locating a file on today's large hard drives. There's a cyclical access pattern," says Russell-Falla. "Bookmark A stored location for quick retrieval at a later date. Web browsers provide bookmarks that contain the addresses (URLs) of favorite sites. Most electronic references, large text databases and help systems provide bookmarks that mark a location users want to revisit in the future. and Favorites tools require users to anticipate everything that might be useful later, so they preemptively bookmark everything in sight-generating a bookmark administration problem. Most bookmark managers are unwieldy, so few users are willing to maintain a useful bookmark list. History logs are inflexible, slow, and ultimately inadequate." "Georgia Tech University's landmark Web studies(a) show the biggest usability issue (after bandwidth) is navigation. One in 3 users find it hard to relocate a previous page, to tell where they are, or to move around sites efficiently. There's a significant opportunity for tools that ease the task, as long as they're very fast and straightforward," Russell-Falla asserts. Designed for Immediacy, Simplicity and Low RAM Budget Web Quick's automatic, instant-access approach stands out from stand-alone bookmark organizers. VP Development Andrew Hanson says these are "usually too big, too cluttered, or just take too many steps." By contrast, Web Quick adds a permanently-resident menu to the Windows 95 taskbar An on-screen toolbar that displays the active applications (tasks). Clicking on a taskbar button restores the application to its previous appearance. Windows 95 popularized this feature. See Win Taskbar. . Its distinctive red icon provides one-click access to recently-visited pages; users can quickly scroll back through a log of their travels. Choosing a page title opens it immediately, launching a browser application A Browser Application is a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language (such as HTML, ASP, PHP, Perl, etc.) and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable. if necessary. Web Quick's design builds on the successful Macintosh version, which began shipping in early June. Hanson remarks that "Web Quick is evolving at Internet speed, because we've leveraged thousands of cumulative months of customer experience across both platforms -- in addition to the four Mac releases so far, over 1700 people have tried the Windows 95 Betas of Web Quick and given us their feedback." Unique to the Windows 95 version is the ability to monitor individual PageMarks, Sites, or Topics for changes. On command, Web Quick accesses the Web, comparing its database of pages with the pages currently being served. Any pages with new information are flagged with a green "LED" symbol, so users can easily identify them. Web Quick's approach cuts out information clutter: unlike "freeloading" products which repeatedly download all pages a user has identified interest in -- without picking out those that have actually changed -- users see only information that is new, saving time and redundant effort. While the recently-announced Castanet The initial name given to Java-based content delivery software for the Internet and intranets from Marimba. Renamed Desktop/Mobile Management, the software provides application updates and other published content for client machines. product from Marimba marimba: see xylophone. marimba Xylophone with resonators under each bar. The original African instrument uses tuned calabash resonators. In Mexico and Central America, where it was brought by African slaves, the wooden bars may be affixed to a takes the same change-driven approach to the emerging technology of Java applets, Web Quick is here and now, adding value to today's World-Wide Web. Russell-Falla points out that Web Quick embodies Europa's emphasis on empowering individuals, rather than advancing a broadcast model of Web communication, like PointCast and similar offerings. Features and User Interface The sub-1MB utility also shows pages in a hierarchy arranged by web site-and like the Recent Web Pages menu, no user intervention is required. Web Quick's database tracks up to 1000 pages, balancing speed and RAM considerations, but users can make specific pages permanent by adding them to a Topics list, so that they always remain available. This process also requires just one mouse-click. In seconds, Web Quick imports any Netscape Bookmark file, setting up the Topics list with the sites and resources that users have already found. Conversely, it can instantly generate an attractively formatted HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. page with Topics information or a Site list, eliminating the effort of building a personal "hot links" page. Web Quick's streamlined user interface is fast and intuitive. To delete unwanted items from the Recent Web Pages menu, one merely selects an item and presses the Backspace (1) To move the screen cursor one column to the left, deleting the character that was in that position. A backspace to the printer moves the print head one column to the left. (2) To move to the previous block on a magnetic tape. key; similarly; adding an entry to the Topics list requires only a Control-T keystroke key·stroke n. A stroke of a key, as on a word processor. key  stroke . "Web Quick takes all of ten minutes to learn," summarizes Russell-Falla. "Besides full Windows Help Microsoft WinHelp is a proprietary format for online help files that can be displayed by the Microsoft Help browser winhelp.exe or winhlp32.exe. The file format is based on Rich Text Format (RTF). It remained a popular Help platform from Windows 3. , there's additional live Help from constantly-updated pages on Europa's web site." Web Quick also delivers fast Internet searching, with a Quick Search dialog that directly interrogates Digital Equipment Corp.'s Alta Vista See AltaVista. (World-Wide Web) Alta Vista - A World-Wide Web site provided by Digital which features a very fast Web and Usenet search engine. As of April 1996 its word index is 33GB in size. ground-breaking fast search engine. System Requirements To be used efficiently, all computer software needs certain hardware components or other software resources to be present on a computer system. These pre-requisites are known as (computer) system requirements and are often used as a guideline as opposed to an absolute rule. Web Quick runs on any industry-standard PC with a 486 processor or better, running Windows 95 and Netscape Navigator An earlier Web browser for Windows, Macintosh and X Windows from Netscape that provided secure transmission over the Internet. Soon after its introduction in 1994, Navigator, or just "Netscape," as it was commonly called, quickly became the leading browser on the Web. 2.0 or later. Support for Windows NT (Windows New Technology) A 32-bit operating system from Microsoft for Intel x86 CPUs. NT is the core technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (see Windows). Available in separate client and server versions, it includes built-in networking and preemptive multitasking. 4.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer See Internet Explorer. 3.0 is slated to follow within 30 days, as a free update to existing users. Where Web Quick Can Be Obtained Web Quick is available direct from Europa's Web site. Users download the software from Europa's file server, then take the software for a free 15 day trial run. When the trial period is over, the software prompts users to make an online purchase; if they choose to do so, a serial number is automatically transmitted from Europa's servers to complete the transaction. To pay for Web Quick, users complete a secure online credit card transaction, or use a non-secure page and fax in their order forms. Russell-Falla says Europa has high confidence in the encryption technology built into Netscape's Secure Commerce Server and the browsers supported by Web Quick. "Online commerce is not merely a future possibility, it's a present success. We have the evidence, too: back in June, our first purchase transaction happened within 120 minutes of opening our site, and business has grown steadily ever since," he says, observing that recent studies show over 14% of Web users have already completed successful online purchases. Direct Online Pricing The SRP SRP - A data link layer protocol. for a future disk-based edition of Web Quick is $49.95, but the online version sells for only $29.95 -- saving users more than 40%. Web Quick carries a full one year money-back guarantee. Technical support is free to registered owners for 90 days after purchase, and costs $4.95 per incident thereafter. Support is available by email at support@europasoftware.com; alternatively, users can fax questions to 503/796-9134. About Europa Software Inc. Europa Software Inc.'s mission is to significantly enhance the experience on the World-Wide Web for individuals and workgroups. Europa was founded in early 1996, and is privately owned. -0- Copyright 1996 Europa Software Inc. Europa Software, the Europa Software logo, Web Quick, and the Web Quick logo are trademarks of Europa Software Inc. Apple, Macintosh and Power Macintosh See Power Mac. (computer) Power Macintosh - Apple Computer's personal computer based on the PowerPC, introduced on 1994-03-14. Existing 680x0 code (both applications and device drivers) run on Power Macintosh systems without modification via a Motorola 68LC040 emulator. are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. Netscape Navigator is a trademark of Netscape Communications Corp. Internet Explorer and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corp. Other trademarks used for descriptive purposes only, and are acknowledged as property of their owners. Note: (a) See http://www.europasoftware.com/site/WebProblems.html CONTACT: Europa Software Inc. Adrian Russell-Falla, 503/417-2900 adrianrf@europasoftware.com |
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