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Users
Fume Over Customized IE 5
As Internet Explorer Version 5.0 enjoys record downloads, one
of the browser's chief selling points is turning off some users. One of IE 5's
attributes--which Microsoft has been touting heavily--is its customization
option. The feature, which allows content sites to alter the browser's look or
add content references, has been the lynchpin of Microsoft's strategy of
enticing some of the big Web portals and other content sites to promote IE to
their users. Microsoft has so far signed on AltaVista, Excite, Lycos, and
other Web portals to offer these customized browsers. Microsoft may be
successful in attracting sites to offer branded versions. But the strategy
appears to have backfired with some users. For example, Canadian site The
Ultimate Collection Of Winsock Software (TUCOWS) got into hot water with its
customers over customization--and has since revised its version of IE 5. Users complained when they found the browser they downloaded
from TUCOWS was customized with TUCOWS labeling, a Hotbot icon, and a number of
other content references, including links and a TUCOWS start page. TUCOWS has
since posted instructions for removing the customization features. But not soon enough, as one irate user has already set up his
own Web page devoted to "debranding" IE 5. TUCOWS removed the Hotbot
icon altogether. It was placed there under a promotional deal with the Wired
Digital property, but removing it did not affect the deal, according to TUCOWS.
Meanwhile, its presence seemed to have stirred much of the resentment amount
TUCOWS users. "People went crazy over that," said TUCOWS
spokesperson Elliot Noss. IE 5 downloaders have been revolting over the TUCOWS
customization issue in other forums as well. "I've gotten tons of mail from
people letting me know how frustrated they were with the TUCOWS version of the
browser," said Andy Brown, a writer with PC enthusiast Web site Ars
Technica. "The people who wrote in were nothing short of ticked off.
They're asking, just because you downloaded the software from this particular
site, should it turn into a huge billboard for that site?" For its part, Microsoft said that with the possible exception
of TUCOWS, download sites were giving users the option of downloading standard
and customized versions. "What we recommend is that sites specify a
customized and a generic version of the browser," said Windows product
manager Mike Nichols. Microsoft reports that IE 5 downloads are at record highs,
with more than one million downloads. Copyright (C)
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