Microsoft's premiere Web portal, MSN.com, denied entry to millions of people who use alternative browser software such as Opera and told them to get Microsoft's products instead.
The decision led to complaints from the small but loyal Opera community that Microsoft Corp was abusing its status as the Internet's browser leader. Microsoft later backed off and said Friday it would support the other browsers after all.
Browser products affected included Opera, Mozilla and Amaya, said Kevin Reichard, editorial manager for Internet.com's Browser-Watch site.
He said version 4.7 of Netscape's browser worked, while Microsoft said MSN also supported Netscape version 6.0, which is based on Mozilla.
Opera is the Internet's No. 3 browser software, with more than 2 million active users, though it's dwarfed by its competitors. It uses less memory and less disk space than Microsoft's and Netscape's browsers, and Opera users say they can surf the Web faster.
Opera users complained that Microsoft's tactics reduced choice.
"It shows that Microsoft unfortunately has a stranglehold on the Internet community, where they can force users to use their browser," said Tim Altman, a Lynchburg College student who uses Opera.
Mike Pettit, president of ProComp, an anti-Microsoft group, urged state and federal investigators to look into the matter as part of their ongoing lawsuit accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive practices.
Jon von Tetzchner, chief executive of Opera Software, said he first heard from Opera users Thursday that they were being shut out of MSN.com after the Web site underwent a face-lift.
The blockage coincided with Microsoft 's showcase launch of its Windows XP operating system. Instead of getting MSN's news, games and shopping features, Opera users were given links to download Microsoft's browsers.
Tetzchner said Microsoft originally offered the excuse that Opera did not support the latest standards from the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, an independent standards body. But he insisted that Opera supported the standards better than Microsoft did.
A Microsoft spokeswoman said no one was immediately available for an interview. In a statement, MSN marketing director Bob Visse said Microsoft wanted to maximize the user experience.
"If customers choose to use a browser that does not tightly support W3C standards then they may encounter a less then optimal experience on MSN," Visse said.
"However, we still welcome them to enjoy our services at whatever level available."
The statement did not address claims that Microsoft's own pages do not comply with the standards, and a check of some MSN pages through W3C's validator feature returned examples of coding noncompliance.
Tetzchner called the Microsoft move a likely acknowledgment of his six-year-old company's higher profile in the Internet business world.
``Most of the players in the Internet world know who we are and are taking us seriously and I think this incident shows that Microsoft is one of those players,'' Tetzchner said.
Tetzchner said Opera recently reached a major deal with Symbian, a partnership that includes Nokia and Ericsson, to be the default browser on a number of wireless devices that connect to the Internet.
According to WebSideStory's StatMarket, Microsoft's Internet Explorer is the leading browser, used by nearly 87 percent of the US online population. Netscape had 13 percent, while Opera had less than 1 percent.
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