Microsoft Rival Offers To Strip Browser Netscape Corp. Says It Can Do It Even If Microsoft Can’t

The season of giving occasionally finds vicious rivals putting aside their cheap shots and rabbit punches to provide unexpected assistance to one another. Silicon Valley is no exception.

Microsoft Corp. says it doesn’t know how to remove its Internet Explorer Web browsing software from its Windows 95 operating system without crippling a user’s computer.

But rival Netscape Corp. is happy to help. The company is posting instructions on its Web site for removing the browser of its competitor - and, of course, for replacing the browser with its own.

Some background: Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered the Redmond, Wash., software giant to stop forcing computer manufacturers to install Explorer. Microsoft responded by announcing that it would comply with the court order by offering the standard operating system with the browser; a version with the browser completely removed, but with the unfortunate side effect that it would not allow a computer to start up; and an older version of the operating system that lacks a browser and many of current system’s improvements but that would work.

In a recent meeting at Netscape’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Barksdale said Microsoft’s response was contemptuous toward the court. “It’s childish,” he said.

Netscape executives described what they called their “Customer Choice Campaign,” intended to make it easier for computer users to make Netscape’s product their primary browser.

The program will be based on a “button” on many Web pages - similar to the ubiquitous “Download Netscape Now” button on tens of thousands of Web pages - that, when activated, takes a user to Netscape’s Web pages.

Directions on the Web pages will guide users in downloading and installing a version of Netscape’s browser called Communicator.

Many if not most users should eventually pay for the software, which comes on a 90-day free trial basis, but the company freely concedes that the vast majority of users never fork over the cash, and the company makes no effort to get them to pay.

The directions also tell users how to remove, or “uninstall,” versions of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser from their computers.

But Microsoft warns that such a step is hazardous.

“If they are actually removing all of the files that comprise Internet Explorer, a user’s operating system could be severely damaged, thanks to Netscape,” said Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray. “This appears to be just a cynical public relations stunt.”

Others suggested that the campaign might better be described as a very effective public relations stunt.

Rob Anderle, a senior analyst with Giga Information Group in Santa Clara, Calif., said, “This is a case of Netscape using Microsoft’s misstep to their advantage.”