Google complains against search in Vista
Google Inc. has complained to federal antitrust officials that the search tool in Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Vista discourages customers from using its own search utility, the company confirmed Sunday. Google’s complaint centered on Vista’s built-in desktop search software, dubbed Instant Search. Google, said both newspapers, accused Microsoft of designing Vista to discourage users from running its indexing and search software. Google spokesman Ricardo Reyes confirmed the charge: “The search boxes built throughout Vista are hard-wired to Microsoft’s own desktop search product, with no way for users to choose an alternate provider from these visible search access points. Likewise, Vista makes it impractical to turn off Microsoft’s search index.”
According to postings on Microsoft’s support forums, the only way to completely disable Vista’s search is to stop the Windows Search service in the Microsoft Management Console. Microsoft disputed Google’s charges. “We’ve been working with state and federal antitrust officials for the past two years to ensure that there are no problems with any of the features in Windows Vista,” said company spokesman Jack Evans. “These desktop search issues were reviewed at length with regulators prior to the release of Windows Vista and resulted in more than a dozen changes at their request.” Although I usually like everything from Google, they might little overreacted this time: isn’t it Microsoft’s choice which features do they implement in their own operating system?
Source: Computerworld
Comments(38)
:S
Make your own operating system, Google.
LOL… two money hungry giants feeling all betrayed and shocked.
They should indeeed Sykgaffel.
time for G-OS, completly network booted
I hope Google wins, so MS are forced to make their products more competitive. MS make the OS, no problem…but the OS is just that, an OS. It isn’t a full package of software and internet services. That just reduces the qulaity of all the individual components. Google is better, so why use the MS built-in crap? Just like IE, WMP….
Just like IE, WMP….
uh comment got cut off, anyways i agree with fhgh :p
Google should make their own OS. It’s just a redesigned search bubble without the annoying paper clip. I hate Microsoft’s money hungry ways, but Google’s going the way of the beast even quicker than I had anticipated. Just wait until the government gives them a nice contract for a high quality streetview of the entire middle east, then they’ll become Google.gov
isn’t it Microsoft’s choice which features do they implement in their own operating system?
No, from the legal point of view. Completely the same issue as with IE7 search.
I normally like Google but this is BS. How come they haven’t gone after Apple’s Spotlight? It’s basically the same feature.
Was anyone up in arms when Apple released Tiger with Spotlight? Was Google? How about with Apple’s included suite of applications pre-installed – the iLife suite? This is basically the same as Microsoft and Vista’s features and bundled software.
I’m really starting to get annoyed at everyone taking swipes at Microsoft. Things are really starting to get a bit ridiculous. First it was Netscape crying about Internet Explorer. Then it was RealMedia crying about Windows Media Player. As a side note, if RealMedia would have made a decent program then consumers would have probably used their product. RM was such a bloated, spyware riddled piece of software that there’s no wonder they were crying foul.
I’m not trying start a flame war or anything but when Apple ‘acquires’ a new feature and incorporates it into their OS, which as a by-product pushes others to drop 3rd party software or use it to a lesser degree – why buy, download, use a separate program when it’s already built into the OS – they are touted as innovators. When Microsoft does it, it’s unfair and everyone starts crying…
Suck it up Google. It’s either time to bring out your own operating system which operates the way you want it to and get out of the desktop search business. Besides, the majority of Windows installed is still XP so they should still be fine for a few more years at least. And, it’s not like they’re hurting financially…
google.gov
nice one Mr.Pink!!
I feel Google didnt go after Apple becuz of the fact that majority of users still use Microsoft…and even if we dont like it…M$ will find one way or another to kill XP for Vista.Google is concerned about that eventuality,since most users still use IE over firefox not because they hate it…but becuz they got used to it.Who is going to bother to download and install Google Desktop if the same thing however shitty it is, is available for free by default in Vista!!
Well its not MS or Googles fault here its fair trading standards which is been broken. These standards are to stop a monoploy of one company from using its product or ideas from allowing others to compete fairly. If this was nt about any company with more money could flood the product with cash or make its product the only thing useable. MS could make it so IE was the only thing to connect to the internet as its OS..how whould other companys be able to make any money? Then we would nt have firefox/opera ect ect. Why whould anyone bother to write it or dev it. So google are simply pointing out MS wrong.
This is pretty stupid; there’s a lot of assertions that Google is ‘going the way of the beast’ and that ‘everyone likes to beat up on Microsoft.’ While the first one is pretty much categorically untrue, on face, the second one is slightly more interesting, but still a stupid point. Why?
The difference is that Microsoft is essentially hardwiring its proprietary software in, whereas Apple does not do this in most of the examples that have been given. Legally speaking, Microsoft doesn’t have a right to make WMP and IE the only standards in an OS, and as such, antitrust laws acted against them. For Apple, Spotlight basically does what Google Desktop Search does in terms of indexing, so there’s little/no chance that Google would even venture this way. As for iLife and the other applications OSX comes with, those applications are *gasp* actually pretty good — good enough to be the leading apps in their fields, often, and if you don’t like them, the system isn’t predisposed to use them.
It isn’t ‘everyone’ hating Microsoft, it’s Microsoft subsisting on an inferior product and foisting it upon their users.
It’s all about fair trade,as Gareth mention. If you break the law you must faced the whip. MS is a greedy lion. what it should do is to give the client the choice; not bundle and impose everything on the customer. Take Apple’s iLife suite, for instance, you are given the choice to have it pre-installed or not, for a price (Sranshaft- check your facts!). MS has many softwares that we like, but we simply don’t want to them forced down our throats!
Jao, Micro$oft can be annoying sawk ma bawls
The day Google wins this one, I’m gonna be suing MS for discouraging Windows users from using my versions of Notepad and Minesweeper. I could be a millionaire, you know…
Hey, and what’s the deal with spell checking in MS Word? People are getting discouraged from hiring professional spelchekers like myself. I say we publicly burn Bill Gates to end his tyrannic reign of terror.
Hmm.. I for one understands google.com. You can’t make a hardcoded search. Same as a build-in IE. People need to have a CHOICE.
I still don’t see how Microsoft’s integrated search engine doesn’t give you that choice. You still can use Google Desktop to do all your file indexing. Besides, if Vista’s own search tool can be disabled through MMC, I just don’t see any logic or validity in Google’s greedy claims.
boo…ever tried disabling anything in Vista.You get some ‘n’ number of warnings before u even get to UAC.It wont be a problem with OS savvy guys but for the common guy….tht is the max he will even think to go.
everyone is anti-this and that,
how many of you are running some version of windows…
well im running windows 2000 for as long as i can..
google are realy starting to piss me off.
there is an anti-google campaign, http://www.information-revolution.org/ which is linked to http://www.ask.com which was originally http://www.askjeeves.com, back in the day, when google was just another search that was competing with yahoo and msn search, but now….
when i speak to clients on the phone and advise them to goto a website, they type the address into google search, if that isnt taking over the internet then what it is.
now google want to help me keep track of what i browse not to mention their interests in dna databasing the world.
well….
fuck ms and fuck google.
now im going to use my opera with built in google search on my win2k machine.
pfft eh
Symantec and McAfee complained about Vista’s approach towards securing the kernel (just skip the debate on if it would be effective or not). That’s just wrong. Who the heck does Microsoft think they are trying to include security from the ground up. They should deliberately leave holes in the OS because otherwise it threatens Symantec’s and McAfee’s business model!
If MS made it so that it was troublesome to operate Google Desktop, they would have a very legit complaint .. but Google’s point is that it’s hard to disable Vista Search (have to call it something). If Google Desktop is a superior product, it will exist on it’s own merits.
Talon, search functionality is a core functionality of almost every popular OS out there. The “desktop search” is just an evolution of it (Explorer search -> Vista Search, MAC’s Finder -> Spotlight, etc). Since Spotlight is integrated with MAC OS, isn’t this the same arguement as a desktop search for Vista? Also, Google does have a MAC OS version of desktop (”For Apple, Spotlight basically does what Google Desktop Search does in terms of indexing, so there’s little/no chance that Google would even venture this way.”)
While I agree Microsoft should, and did (again, save the debate on if it was hard enough) get slapped for doing “Monopolistic practices” by forcing unreasonable contract/licenses onto vendors (i.e, forcing them to pay per computer manufactured, regardless if MS OS is installed or not .. not selling certain MS software unless they purchase the OS as well .. ‘tying’ MS software to the OS at a discount, etc), complaining that something they do is anti-competitive because it will impact upon your current business practice is just another example of ’shotgun lawyerism’.
What’s next? WebShots complaining because Windows allows you to select your background and screen saver, DisKeeper shouting about the OS having a defrag utility or maybe Mozilla griping around Outlook Express being installed — all with the mantra of “That’s not supposed to be part of what an OS does!” .. or maybe they should do what they already do … build a better mousetrap and compete on the merits of your application.
I have to admit, I have not made my switch to Vista just yet. However, I wonder if running both Vista’s and Google’s indexing tools simultaneously will create any difficulties for an average user. I expect the strain on the system will not be noticeable at all, and those of us who won’t accept such inefficient redundancy probably belong to the category of users who already know how to access MMC, UAC, and other built-in administrative tools, or at least know how to google for an applicable tutorial on the subject. One other question I would like to ask is are there any core differences between the engines? If Microsoft’s built-in tool works as well, or at least nearly as well as Google’s alternative, what’s the point of having this choice? Just like the abovementioned notepad/minesweeper example, Google’s claims also lack any apparent rational basis in them and seem to be build upon nothing but greed, pure and simple.
Google is really starting to get annoying with their “We own Search” bullshit attitude. The people own search. They can use whatever the fuck they want to search with whether it is a magnifying glass or a flashlight. Yes microsoft is fucked also, but two wrongs don’t make a right…
I always hate Microsoft, but this is ridiculous. How dare an operating system implement a search box to search your own computer!!! Fucking idiots.
All elements that are not ‘the OS’ should be able to be provided by a competitor. Word processor, defrag, paint, media player, browser, all of these and more. Microsoft uses various means to make sure that if you want to use a competitors product you have to bloat your PC with two versions of everything. Google should be slapped for their anti-competitive bs too.
Oh and security…it’s Microsoft’s business to make their OS stable and free of security loopholes that can be easily exploited, but it’s not their business to make security software built in to the OS.
comone google jsut acting stoopid they want ms to run their business and their os by there way lol ms will kick their asss.
Fghf, your position makes no sense. Microsoft’s business is what Microsoft decides its business it, not what you imagine it must be. Besides, you clearly have no idea how casual users think. I spent almost six months sitting without a firewall when I bought my first computer, simply not knowing a thing about computer security. By providing embedded firewall and antivirus services, Microsoft (or any OS manufacturer, for that matter) ensures at least some level of protection for its customers. Same goes with the indexing feature: most people expect useful tools like that to be included with the OS by default. And as I said, as long as you can disable/uninstall elements you don’t like, I don’t see any problem at all with Microsoft including all sorts of crap with their OS installations.
google should make their own OS, i’d jump on that bandwagon in 2 seconds flat
Granted Microsoft can do what they want with their operating system their still money hungry pigs…I’m really pissed with them right now about my defective Xbox 360 I only had it for 2 month and already the red ring of death….Microsoft knows about the mass defective Xbox’s but never issued a recall…
Boo, Microsoft’s business is not whatever they want it to be. If they break rules then they can be forced to change their business. You can’t uninstall all the bits of Windows that you don’t want. Also, a company could sell you a computer that included av and firewall, and everything else that you want, without all those components being made by Microsoft.
fuck google fuck google fuck google
The Register writes, “Google has confirmed it is working on a desktop linux project called Goobuntu” (the name being a mix of Google and Ubuntu). I’ll be waiting for confirmation from Google first.
http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2006-01-31-n47.html
Goobuntu? Goo in my local language means shit lol.. so shitbuntu.. lol fuck google