If you have both browsers, then you know its an uneasy co-existence. First, Microsoft's Internet Explorer wants to be the default browser, then Netscape. If Internet Explorer is not the default, it complains until you turn off the option buried in a dialog box.

Switching default browsers is not a simple operation. Netscape provides lengthy instructions to make their browser the default. The alternative until recently was tinkering with the registry, which is never a good idea unless you're a PC guru. Now a new utility from Coolware, called BrowserSwitch, makes changing the default Web browser a snap. BrowserSwitch provides the simple and safe way to change default browsers.

The utility lists all the browsers on your PC, with a single click you can change the default and launch the new default browser. BrowserSwitch also allows the PC user to define the default browser with different defaults from email, news, and shorcuts. In addition, it lets you define a startup browser, which is automatically launched when you start your PC.

More and more people have the browser from Microsoft and the browser from Netscape together on their PC. Sometimes this is a choice. Both browsers are free, and excellent in different ways. Sometimes it is not a choice. Microsoft's browser has been pre-installed with Windows 95, so many people have not bothered to uninstall it. With Windows 98 the Microsoft browser has been integrated into the operating system, so you can't remove it, even if you wanted to. Several PC manufacturers - IBM and Gateway have recently announced their intentions to pre-install Netscape their PCs. The odds are that you will soon have both browsers. Make sure you have BrowserSwitch as well.

Please let us know at switch@coolware.com the issues, benefits and problems of having two or more browsers on your PC.