Microsoft announced it will modify its Windows Vista operating system as a result of a complaint filed by Google. According to Google, Vista’s desktop search function, “Instant Search,” makes it difficult to use competing third-party desktop search applications – namely, Google Desktop Search.
Google initially filed the complaint with the Department of Justice back in December, pointing out that it violated Microsoft’s antitrust settlement with the government. Microsoft, meanwhile, has called Google’s complaint “baseless.” The new agreement will be presented before a court hearing on June 26.
Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet rounded up a summary of the changes that will made to Vista:
- Defaults: Computer manufacturers and consumers will be able to
select a default desktop search program similar to the way they currently
select defaults for third-party web browsers and media players in Windows
Vista.- Easy Links: Links to the default desktop search program will be
provided on the Start Menu and in Windows Explorer windows.- Developer guidance: Microsoft will provide information to
developers of third-party desktop search programs about how they can
optimize their programs to minimize any performance problems.
These changes will be available as a part of Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista, with a beta of it out before the end of this year. Still, Google isn’t completely satisfied:
“These remedies are a step in the right direction, but they should be improved further to give consumers greater access to alternate desktop search providers,” David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, said in a statement.
Duncan Riley at TechCrunch muses over the fact that while Microsoft has “a long history of anti-competitive
behavior,” they appear to have given in quite easily in this case, curiously enough:
On the surface it seems a little strange that Microsoft could be in this position; Vista’s search capabilities really do nothing more than deliver decent search functionality out of the box for Windows. Search functionality has been available in some form or another in ever[y] version of Windows since Windows 95, the difference being that previously those search capabilities have been substandard compared to offerings from Google and Yahoo with their own respective desktop search programs. Whatever the actual details of the case may be (and we may never know) it’s a win for Google. For Microsoft, the questions remain: is this simply a case of Microsoft waiting to fight another day, or is the company now seriously spooked by both the treat of anti-competition litigation and Google? It’s certainly very un-Microsoft like to simply settle without a fight.
