Microsoft Takes Issue With Netscape's Communicator 4.5 09/17/98
Newsbytes, Thursday, September 17, 1998 at 17:41
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1998 SEP 17 (NB) -- By Matt Hines,
Newsbytes. Microsoft Corp. [NASDAQ:MSFT] apparently isn't amused with
Netscape Communications Corp.'s [NASDAQ:NSCP] decision to release a
"Windows-friendly" version of its Communicator Internet browser
software. Officials from Microsoft have called the software a
"Trojan Horse" of a browser that fools its users and corrupts
their computers.
Software giant Microsoft said yesterday that the Netscape Communicator
4.5 product interferes with its own Internet Explorer browser software
and dupes potential users by changing their browsers' default home page
without any notification. Netscape has made its strategy to "bring
Windows users home to Netscape" and has reportedly incorporated tools in
Communicator 4.5 to help it execute on that plan.
Netscape is defending that it only provides users with the ability to
easily switch to its browser on a Windows-based system but Microsoft
contends that the developer has gone too far.
"This is an unprecedented case where a developer is designing its
product to deliberately interfere with another developer's product,"
said Mike Nichols, product manager for the Windows Group at Microsoft.
One of the major issues which Microsoft is defending itself against in
its federal antitrust suit is that the software company tried to take
over the browser market by including its Explorer as part of the popular
Windows operating system. Microsoft is also charged with trying to
derail Netscape's business in particular with is tactics.
The Windows-friendly version of Communicator 4.5 features a simple set-
up screen which it contends is designed to help users make Netscape
Navigator their default browser software, the developer's Netcenter
portal their default home page, and Netscape's search engine their
primary search service. All of this can be transferred with a single
click, according to Netscape. The company said that it included the
function to eliminate a time consuming predecessor for switching
browsers, going to Netscape's Web site, netscape.com , and
downloading a program to accomplish the same task. It contends that
Microsoft has made it hard for Windows users to utilize Netscape Web
browsers by including Explorer and giving the browser complicated
default settings.
But Microsoft contends that in the process of changing the browser and
making the Netcenter portal site users' default opening screen, the
newest version of Communicator also tampers with the Explorer software
in the Windows OS by shifting its default home page too. In doing so,
Microsoft contends that it is Netscape that is trying to take over the
Internet.
"All of their advertising has been about giving users a choice," Nichols
said. "Users have always had a choice in picking a browser. But what we
really feel is the wrong thing to do is to make changes inside a
customer's computer without letting them know it. They're not just
giving you the browser, they're creating ties to their portal without
letting the user know."
Nichols said that by changing Explorer's default home page and search
function to its own site and services Netscape has truly crossed the
line.
Portal sites are thought by many, including Microsoft chief executive,
Bill Gates, to be the future money-makers of the Internet. The sites,
which lead users to the rest of the Internet, are thought to be the best
prospect for gaining highly sought after user hits, which site providers
can use to justify advertising sales.
The Netscape default set-up function also takes the developer's products
directly onto the desktop screen by adding a Windows tool bar icon
to jump quickly into the Navigator browser, as well as Netscape's
Messenger mail client and Composer editing tool. It also adds
a Netscape icon directly into the Windows "Start" menu so that
users can launch Netscape's browser to automatically download updated
versions of the company's client software.
Netscape can be reached at www.netscape.com
Microsoft can be reached at www.microsoft.com
Reported By Newsbytes News Network newsbytes.com
(19980917/WIRES PC, ONLINE, LEGAL, BUSINESS/NETSCAPE/PHOTO) |
