Packard Bell to Strip Notebooks of Browsers
Packard Bell NEC Inc. will strip its notebook computers of all software except the operating system and will offer Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer and Netscape Communications Corp.’s Communicator browsers to customers on a separate disk.
Packard Bell is the first PC maker to remove Explorer from Windows 95 to let customers choose which browser they want. The Sacramento-based company previously offered only Explorer on its notebooks. Microsoft agreed to offer two versions of Windows 95, with and without Explorer, in a settlement earlier this year with the government, and some PC makers offer both browsers preloaded.
The move highlights the strained relations between Microsoft and PC makers as the software giant dictates how the operating system is loaded on a computer and how it looks to users, while PC makers strive to differentiate themselves in the fiercely competitive industry. On Wednesday, Gateway Inc. said it will customize the screen and add Netscape Navigator to its Windows 98-based PCs after it won a concession from Microsoft. Packard Bell didn’t know if it would be able to remove Explorer from Windows 98.
Microsoft faces an antitrust lawsuit by the Justice Department and 20 states that alleges that the company has used its dominance to crush rivals in other areas, such as the browser market.
A Packard Bell executive said in a deposition that their corporate customers don’t like to have choices forced upon them, and that’s why the company is stripping off the browser and offering the separate disk.
Packard Bell said that it will offer the separate software option now only on its NEC-brand Versa LX and SX notebooks for business users and that it is considering having similar options on desktops.
The separate disk will also include a virus-scanning program and other utility and software drivers for specific add-on cards or functions. Packard Bell said it decided to offer the separate disk because customers often strip off all preloaded software and instead add their own customized packages.
