A VIRTUAL MERGER

February 1999
		How will the merger of two of the largest Internet companies change the face of the Web? Two industry experts who differ on the agreement answer your questions.

Return to Forum Introduction What changes will the average computer users see? Will these mergers help or hinder competition? Will AOL be the death of Netscape? Why does AOL still distribute the Microsoft broswer with its software? Will this merger offer competition for Microsoft?

An AOL user in Olympia, WA asks: If AOL and Netscape merged then why does AOL still advertise Internet Explorer and widely use it? I just got an AOL cd-rom in the mail and it installed the Internet Explorer software without even asking me if I would like to have it on my box... John C. Dvorak, hi tech writer, responds: As I mentioned in an earlier message AOL's real interest was in NetCenter not the browser.   Paul Gillian, editor of Computerworld, responds: AOL has a favorable licensing arrangement with Microsoft that gives AOL space on the Windows start-up screen. If the company rejects Internet Explorer in favor of its own browser, it loses that tremendously valuable marketing tool. I'm sure this is an issue AOL is wrestling with, but I would expect it to continue to work with Microsoft as long as the terms of the agreement are so favorable to it or the legal system provides some other alternative.