As first reported by CNETNews.com, some Mozilla and Opera users found Thursday that they could not access the new MSN site. Instead, they were given the option of downloading a version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
But later Thursday, Microsoft decided to change its position.
"We are going to support the latest versions of Opera and Mozilla so peoplewill be able to get the MSN experience," said Bob Visse, MSN's director ofmarketing.
But, Visse warned, "the experience may be slightly degraded simply becausethey don't support the standards we support closely, as far as the HTMLstandard in those browsers."
Currently, using the most recent browser from Mozilla.org to reach MSN.combrings a message from Microsoft saying it has "detected that the browserthat you are using will not render MSN.com correctly." Mozilla.org doesopen-source browser development for AOL Time Warner's NetscapeCommunications unit.
Visse said earlier Thursday that the message would be shown to people using"browsers that we know don't support (W3C) standards or that we can'tinsure will get a great experience for the customer." W3C refers to theWorld Wide Web Consortium, which is developing industry standards for Webtechnologies.
Microsoft expects to have MSN.com fully accessible to the browsers lateThursday.
Visse apologized for the difficulties, emphasizing, "We're in the businessof reaching as many customers as possible and providing services andcontent to as many customers as possible. The last thing we're going to dois turn people away."
Hitting a wall
Norwegian browser maker Opera Software confirmed Thursday that it hadnoticed its browser is unable to access MSN.com. Several readers alsoalerted CNET News.com.
"Microsoft is actively keeping our browser from accessing MSN.com," saidJon S. von Tetzchner, Opera's chief executive. He added that every time abrowser connects to a server, it sends a string to the server telling itwhat type of browser is seeking access.
"Microsoft is seeing (that) it is an Opera browser and shutting it out,"said von Tetzchner, whose team was testing the problem. "If youchange the Opera string by one letter, it is letting us in."
Microsoft admitted that its technology was watching for Opera strings--butonly because the company wanted to encourage people to use standard-compliant browsers.
Earlier versions of the Netscape Navigator browser also jammed and crashedwhen trying to reach MSN.com. The latest version, 6.1, seems to be working.Visse said MSN.com supports Netscape 4.7 and all later versions.
On Thursday, Microsoft launched its newest
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A move to favoring Internet Explorer over other browsers would giveMicrosoft a considerable advantage as it prepares to jump into the world ofWeb services. Through its .Net software-as-a-service strategy, Microsoft hopes to sellsoftware by subscription, and either directly or with a partner, offer awide range of ancillary services, ranging from online calendars tofinancial and travel services.
Through Windows XP, MSN is emerging as a major end point for delivering thoseservices. The majority of Microsoft's most popular products link to MSN.
Office XP, for example, features a pull-down, get-more-info menu featurecalled Smart Tags that connectsto MSN. Microsoft had planned to include Smart Tags in Internet Explorer 6but pulled the feature.
Financial programs Money and Great Plains also lean heavily on MSNfeatures. Besides launching MSN as the default home page, Internet Explorer6 replaces the more typical"page not found" with an MSN search page.
Windows XP is chock full of MSN hooks. The Internet search feature from theStart Menu uses MSN. Windows Media Player drives traffic to MSN, as does the Passport authentication featurefound in Windows Messenger. The Photo & Camera Wizard, where people can order online prints from digitalimages, also directs traffic to MSN.