When that historic day dawns, all you'll have to do is spend days trying to get through to a reliable FTP site, then hours downloading the software. But once you do, you'll have two of the most powerful and advanced pre-release communications programs in the world crashing your system. Gigglebytes was given an exclusive peek of both products for this head-to-head preview.

AllEncompasser and IE 7.0 are as different as two suites containing browsers, e-mail packages, newsgroup software, Internet phones, push technology, and erotic screen savers can be. Netscape takes pride in including every communications option one could possibly imagine: local and wide area network software, fax, voice mail, a writing tablet, a set of semaphore flags, and a full, working copy of Lotus Notes--the first significant piece of integration since Netscape bought IBM.

Internet Explorer, on the other hand, has gone through a major shift in emphasis due to Microsoft’s change in bundling strategies. Whereas before Internet Explorer was bundled with Windows 98, the next version of Windows--code-named Las Vegas--will be bundled with Internet Explorer.

Another important difference between the two suites is price. Microsoft gives Internet Explorer away, letting anyone download and use it at no cost. On the other hand, Netscape will charge $49.95 for AllEncompasser, which anyone can download and use at no cost. How long these policies will last is anybody’ s guess. Microsoft, which is beset by legal complaints of unfair business practices, has promised to start charging for Internet Explorer as soon as Netscape goes out of business.

Traditionalists will be relieved to know that both products will continue to come with Web browsers. But while AllEncompasser is optimized to work best on sites designed with the Java PlugIns and Other Tools package, IE will offer peak performance on sites for companies that have signed the Microsoft Full Control Agreement. Both Netscape and Microsoft promise new features to ensure future incompatibility.

The centerpiece of Internet Explorer’s new Web-browsing metaphor is its support for ActiveZ controls, which can be developed by any Microsoft programming tool purchased within the last six months. ActiveZ controls give a Web developer the ability to do anything he or she wants with your computer, from displaying full-motion video to transferring money from your bank account.

Netscape AllEncompasser, on the other hand, enhances HTML, Java, CGI, JavaScript, VRML, JavaBasic, VisualPostscript, and VisualJava++ Professional with Netscape’s new open standard, Digital Web Electronic Enterprise Bitmaps (DWEEB), which displays onscreen pictures of the user’s choice while downloading an unlimited number of cookies.

Both Netscape and Microsoft are attack email’s basic flaw--its inability to transmit full, 3-dimensional objects--with support for Binary Exchange of Actual Matter. They are, however, using different and possibly incompatible variations of BEAM, with Netscape adopting Sun’s BEAM technology, while Microsoft is teaming up with Pizza Hut for a new standard named BEAM (Scotty), which the companies claim will be optimized for transmitting melted cheese.

The Gigglebytes labs tested the new technologies on four machines with a variety of configurations, using them to transmit a hot bowl of soup, an original Picasso, and our Great Aunt Martha. However, due to the unfinished nature of the software, Aunt Martha is now hanging at the Modern Museum of Art.

Taking the lead from small, innovative companies that will soon be wiped out, each suite offers its own form of shove technology. The new shove modules, Netscape’s DownYerThroat and Microsoft’s ShovelIt, take over the bottom third of the screen, displaying a steady stream of interesting facts. Each program works as a screen saver as well, so that when you’re not using your keyboard or mouse the information is redirected from the screen to your printer. And both Netscape and Microsoft have included an option for those who need their entire screen for their work: You can redirect the shoved information to your speakers. DownYerThroat distinguishes itself by interweaving the information with a steady stream of commercials, while ShovelIt alternates bits of information with Microsoft’s new slogan, "We know where you live."

Which program should you get? That’s a tough choice. Without Internet Explorer, you would have no operating system. On the other hand, without Netscape AllEncompasser, you would not be able to visit 95 percent of all future Web sites. Luckily, since you can acquire either program for free, we can recommend that you skirt the issue and buy a larger hard drive.