Encycolopedia Britiannica on CD -- Need MSIE first

[James Packard Love <love@cptech.org>]

Bryon Bloch recently purchased a CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia
Britannica '98.  He tried to install the program, but it told him he
could not install it unless he first installed Microsoft's Internet
Explorer.  He was surprised, since the Box did not list that
requirement, and he thought that Encyclopedia Britiannica was a
competitor of Microsoft's Encarta.  He was a Netscape user, but
fortunately, he had recently upgraded his hard drive from 500 megs to 5
gigabytes, and so he was able to add Microsoft's Internet Explorer and
keep his perferred Netscape.

He said that neither the box it shipped in, nor the printed 52 page user
guide mentioned the need for MSIE.  However, there was a suplmental 8
page booklet, called troubleshooting notes, which had a note on page 4,
under a section on system requirements, said MSIE3.02 or better was a
requirement.  Bryon's phone number is 301.299.1800, his email is
nbabc@erols.com (no period).

I'll check with Britiannica to see what gives, but it may be similiar to
the situation with Quicken, which also requires MSIE.  Quicken, which is
a bitter competitor with MS Money, said that it used MSIE to link its
software to web resources.  It might also be something that Britiannica
needs to do to license the Common Control DLL or other updated Windows
files.   

    Jamie


-- 
James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
love@cptech.org | http://www.cptech.org
202.387.8030, fax 202.234.5176