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Microsoft to Resolve Google Complaint With Vista Change |
Microsoft has reached an accord with the help of the U.S. Justice Department and state antitrust regulators to address complaints from search engine giant Google regarding desktop search functionality on the new Windows Vista operating system from Microsoft. Google cited that their desktop search application does not work correctly on the Vista OS, and Microsoft is not allowed under a consent decree to take any actions to stop a rival companies desktop software from working as designed on their OS.
The changes are a “step in the right direction,” Google chief legal officer David Drummond said. “But they should be improved further to give consumers greater access to alternate desktop search providers.”
A desktop search engine made by Google, Microsoft or any other company allows users to search for documents, emails or other content on their local computer using keywords and phrases.
According to the filing, Microsoft has agreed to create functionality on Vista that will allow the selection of a default program to handle the desktop searches, and users can select from a choice of desktop search applications available. Vista will still show their own search results but will provide a link that will launch the selected default application and show its search results as well. This change is expected to be in place by the end of this year.
“We’re pleased we were able to reach an agreement with all the States and the Justice Department that addresses their concerns so that everyone can move forward,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel.
Source: Bloomberg
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Ads by Google. Google makes all of its money on advertising. This is the death of the web. 2nd Life? anybody? Big multinationals buying space in a game to advertise. The web was never intended for this horserace of popups and advertising that sometimes comes with trojans. Read about MPACK today. I can hardly wait till Doubleclick servers get infected with this. And I want their search engine on my hard drive??>??>
Google doesn’t make the os so they and those states have no business telling me how I must buy my version of the OS and what programs can be included. This decision by the Justice Department reeks of more MS attack. I hope they say no on the double click merger. I hate double click and everything it stands for. Freedom of innovation has been hurt here by a company that at best can deliver more web searches and online word processing with maps and NO OS. And by the way Microsoft had the terra server mapping service long before goole even existed. Whats not new we can repackage and sell as bigger and better with more hype while hiding under the IBM “I blame microsoft” umbrella.
Thanks a lot for making me now have to go out and download some more stuff to include what used to come with the OS because you really aren’t competitive unless you can make me download your version of search. I don’t want any google or yahoo toolbar slowing down my os or version of google search on my hard drive.
Google is going down a slippery brick road if they are combined with doubleclick which records everywhere you have been and buries cookies on your hard drive and info on proxy servers so as to direct you to some site you have already seen and are no longer interested in.
Do not forget that double click was going to sell your personal web usage to advertisers too solicite you with more stuff you don’t want. Lets all get in line with our google/doubleclick card at the grocerystore too. 1984 here we come.
If anyone should be suing someone it should be some group of search engines suing google. Perhaps infoseek, alta vista, msn, yahoo, metacrawler.
How about a class action law suit for screwing up future versions of the os I buy. They don’t build the os and if they don’t like it they can unbutu it.