MicroSurfer 2.0 Renders Netscape, Microsoft Browser Choice Irrelevant; Unique navigation, organization tool promises to change way people surf the Web

1. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: David Bernstein
(206) 284-2229 (days)
media@microsurfer.com
MicroSurfer 2.0 Renders Netscape, Microsoft Browser Choice Irrelevant
Unique navigation, organization tool promises to change way people surf the Web
SEATTLE (Mar. 18, 1999) - MicroSurfer Corporation (www.microsurfer.com), a Seattle-based, international
software company, today unveiled MicroSurfer 2.0, a unique Web-navigation and organization tool that aims at
nothing less than changing the way people surf the Web.
MicroSurfer's innovative approach to navigating the Web liberates surfers from the tiresome process of
constantly using their browser's back button to return to a page with links they want to explore. Instead of click-
ing on a link and waiting for its page content to download and display in a browser, MicroSurfer users drag-
and-drop links from their browser into the MicroSurfer window. Without interrupting their surfing session,
MicroSurfer downloads the selected links in the background, ready for instant viewing in their browser with a
single click.
MicroSurfer uses the micro-periods when a modem is normally idle to download from multiple sites
simultaneously, thereby increasing download rates up to 100 percent. By separating the downloading of Web
pages from their immediate display, MicroSurfer enables users to surf Web pages on demand in any order,
without having to backtrack, at speeds greater than even the fastest Internet connection, regardless of modem
speed.
Early MicroSurfer users enthusiastically applied the streamlined surfing technology to search-engine
results, Web portals, news sites and other lists of links, with stunning results.
"It sounds almost hokey, but MicroSurfer really does change the way you surf the Web," says Micro-
Surfer Corporation President David Bernstein. "Once people experience how much faster, simpler and easier
using the Web is with MicroSurfer, they rarely return to the old, click-and-wait method of surfing. "
"MicroSurfer provides a key element that's been sorely missing from traditional models of Web surf-
ing—context," Bernstein says. "It addresses the biggest problems surfers face—not just speed and navigation,
but also how to effectively and efficiently organize and share information on the Web."
"With MicroSurfer, you can see at a glance where you've been, how you got there and where you're
going," says MicroSurfer Chief Technology Officer Brice deGanahl. "All the sites you've visited are instantly
available in MicroSurfer, and you can immediately return to any Web page with a single click of your mouse."
MicroSurfer' s tree-and-branch representation of downloaded links provides an easily understood history
of visited Web pages and enables users to quickly organize and automate their surfing activity. Instead of trying
to save new Web sites into a browser's clunky favorites or bookmark list, MicroSurfer users can create custom-
izable libraries of links, called WebTours™, that provide instant access to favorite Web sites.
"You can create and exchange WebTours with friends, or make a master WebTour of your most-visited
sites to serve as your personal portal to the Web," deGanahl says. Web-site designers can use WebTours to lead
visitors through a specific sequence of pages as part of a customized presentation, and MicroSurfer Corporation
plans to work with content providers to give surfers faster access to information on the Web.
MicroSurfer's unique Universal Link Loader™ automatically parses embedded URLs in selected text
documents, e-mail messages, spreadsheets or databases and downloads them for later viewing. Off-line
browsing is supported and—since MicroSurfer captures a page’s entire Web content—pages that might
otherwise disappear from the Web can be archived, in one neatly packaged file, for unlimited future reference.
Version 2.0 also can be set to "prefetch" all the links on a selected Web page.
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2. MicroSurfer 2.0 Release
Mar. 18, 1999
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"In the debate over which browser, Netscape or Microsoft, is the best," says Bernstein, "people don't re-
alize that browsers—far from being the ideal way to navigate the Web—actually are more of an obstacle to fast
and convenient surfing. Browsers are merely simple content viewers that typically are poorly designed for ex-
ploring multiple links on a page, visualizing surfing history or managing more than a few hundred bookmarked
links. MicroSurfer excels in these areas."
DeGanahl believes no other browser utility can match the fusion of MicroSurfer' s innovative core tech-
nology with such sweeping cross-functionality in navigational, organizational and research applications.
"MicroSurfer manages caches and bookmarks better than browsers, it downloads and retrieves Web content
faster, and it stores Web pages more quickly, and in less hard-drive space, than a browser can," he says.
"Deciding which browser you should choose becomes irrelevant when you use MicroSurfer," deGanahl
adds. "MicroSurfer's cross-functionality means you can switch browsers effortlessly and without losing the fav-
orite links you've collected in your old browser."
"MicroSurfer is an entirely new kind of browser companion that provides maximum choice, conveni-
ence and control for power users and novices alike," says Bernstein. "Our principal challenge—and our greatest
opportunity—lies in reaching users who surf with just their browser alone."
System Requirements and Availability
MicroSurfer requires a PC with a 486, or higher, processor; Microsoft® Windows 95, Windows 98 or
Windows NT; at least 8 MB RAM; 3 MB of available hard-drive space; and direct or dial-up Internet access.
MicroSurfer supports all major browsers: Netscape® Navigator 3.x and 4.x; Microsoft® Internet Explorer™
3.x, 4.x and 5.x; AOL browser 3.x and up; CompuServe 3.02; and Opera 3.x.
MicroSurfer is a $49.95 shareware product backed by an unconditional, 60-day, money-back guarantee.
A free, 30-day trial can be downloaded from www.microsurfer.com.
About MicroSurfer Corporation
Seattle-based MicroSurfer Corporation (www.microsurfer.com) makes innovative Web-productivity
software to help people visualize, navigate and accelerate their Web experience. MicroSurfer President David
Bernstein founded the company in 1998 after a 20-year consulting career in software development, multimedia
and conducting advanced programming seminars. Brice deGanahl, president of deGanahl Software and the de-
veloper of the super-fast FlexFile searching technology, joined the company in 1998 as chief technology officer
and teamed up with Bernstein to write version 2.0.
MicroSurfer Corporation is one of the new breed of ''virtual corporations" at the forefront of sweeping
changes in electronic-software distribution. The company's administrative and marketing operations, as well as
its Web servers, are located in Seattle; MicroSurfer's software designers work from their homes across the
U.S.A; and CTO deGanahl works from his home in Costa Rica. The company's flagship product, MicroSurfer
vl.0, debuted in May 1998.
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