Personal computer maker Gateway 2000 Inc has said that it has won a key concession from Microsoft Corp to slightly modify the series of screens that computer users see when they turn on a PC equipped with Microsoft's Windows 98 software.

The modification, which comes as Microsoft is facing two massive US government anti-trust lawsuits involving Windows 98, would allow Gateway to promote its own Internet-access service in place of service providers selected by Microsoft, Gateway said.

The US government lawsuits, filed last week by the Justice Department and a coalition of 20 state attorneys general, are seeking, among other things, to give PC makers more control over the first screens in Windows 98. This would allow them to pitch other Internet services or install software that runs as a "shell" over Windows. Microsoft typically has not allowed PC makers to change the start-up screens in Windows.