Q I downloaded some files the other day which can be used to change the spinning Netscape icon to a new icon (the logo for a sports team that I like). Is it possible to convert this for use with IE4?

A I have a hunch that Microsoft and Netscape have not collaborated to provide the necessary compatibility between Netscape and IE. Such is the strained relationship between the two companies they're reluctant to use the same Internet. Incompatibility is the keyword to this corporate relationship. So the short answer is no.

The long answer is an illustration of fundamental differences between Netscape and Microsoft. You can change the icon in Microsoft's Internet Explorer, but to do it you have to enter into a contractual relationship with Microsoft and spend many hours on the project.

You can modify Internet Explorer, creating a customised version with different icons and other features, for distribution within or outside your organisation. All you have to do is register as a user of the Internet Explorer Administration Kit.

Just go to ieak.microsoft.com. There you'll find a link to register for the product. You give your e-mail address and name, then register. Soon you receive an e-mail containing a password. Then you return to the IEAK site and login. The first time you do this you'll be prompted for more information, which includes your organisation, name and address, how you intend to distribute IE, and quite a bit more.

Once you've plodded through this questionnaire you are registered. Then you return to another part of the site and proceed through the many screens of the IEAK agreement wizard. Eventually you see one of those Microsoft licensing agreements that goes on for a long time. (Does anybody read these? Can anybody read them?) Enthusiastically, naively, perhaps foolishly, you click I accept.

What have you agreed to? I cannot take the responsibility for telling you. Consult a corporate software lawyer. You have committed to including Microsoft logos in quite a few places and providing a quarterly report to Microsoft detailing the copies you have distributed. What if one quarter you forget to send them the report? What if it's late? Are they going to notice? Watch this column for updates: I clicked I accept.

Then you run the IEAK Internet setup. It's under 2MB in size, so it can take as little as 10 minutes to download. When it's installed you run the IEAK wizard on your machine. It asks for a ten-character customisation code which you should have received in an e-mail after licensing. Then you step through the wizard to produce a customised IE setup program. During this you perform a synchronisation step which involves downloading the latest IE and components. This uses AVS (Automatic Version Synchronisation) and could take hours, depending on how much you want to download. There are about 20 components, including IE, Outlook Express, and Net Meeting, Java Virtual Machine, and so on.

Finally, the wizard leads you through creating a modified IE with different features such as icons, menu options and starting home page.

You have to hand it to Microsoft. Faced with the issue of modifying that icon, they really cleaned the whole problem out, and they did it in a way that moves us in the direction of a more Microsoft world.