Google Lashes Out at IE 7 Search Feature
Subscribe to Windows IT Pro: http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=289E9:610453
====================
To ensure that future email messages you receive from WinInfo Daily UPDATE aren't mistakenly blocked by antispam software, be sure to add WinInfo_UPDATE@list.windowsitpro.com to your list of allowed senders and contacts.
====================
This email newsletter comes to you free and is supported by the following advertiser, which offers products and services in which you might be interested. Please take a moment to visit this advertiser's Web site and show your support for WinInfo Daily UPDATE.
Microsoft http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=289EA:610453
==== Sponsor: Microsoft ====
IT Manager Connections Webcast Series from Microsoft Check out the brand new series specifically designed for IT Managers. May and June Webcast content includes Value of Integrated Platform-- Framework and tools to evaluate and manage your current environment and plan for the next 3 years; Vista/Office 2007/Exchange 12 will be highlighted; IT and Business Alignment--How to achieve strategic alignment between IT and business goals and how to advocate IT value across teams; IT Governance--Proven best practices to achieve better security and compliance through effective IT Governance. The series features third-party experts and industry analysts. Their perspective combined with Microsoft IT manager peer expertise will prove very relevant to enable IT Managers to build business and build careers on Microsoft Platform. Register today at http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=289EA:610453
==== In the News ==== Google Lashes Out at IE 7 Search Feature by Paul Thurrott, thurrott@windowsitpro.com
Google Lashes Out at IE 7 Search Feature A month ago, Google approached the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the European Union (EU) to complain about the Internet search feature in Microsoft's upcoming Internet Explorer (IE) 7 Web browser, which Google says unfairly promotes Microsoft's MSN Search service. The tactic, which might be described as tattling if both companies were three-year- old children, is debatable: Google is betting that antitrust regulators at the DOJ and EU will see parallels between IE 7's use of MSN and Microsoft's ignominious defeat of Netscape a decade ago. But Google is a much more powerful and cash-rich company than Netscape ever was. Where does one draw the line between competition and product bundling?
"The market favors open choice for search, and companies should compete for users based on the quality of their search services," says Google Vice President Marissa Mayer. "We don't think it's right for Microsoft to just set the default to MSN. We believe users should choose."
To date, neither the DOJ nor the EU has elected to pursue the case. And Microsoft argues, correctly, that the IE 7 search box--a tiny slice of onscreen real estate in the upper right corner of the browser window-- is remarkably easy for consumers to configure for their favorite search engine. If people really do prefer Google, the argument goes, they'll have no problem changing IE 7 to use Google instead of MSN Search.
In my own tests of the Beta 2 version of the browser, I found this feature to be quite open to competitive search engines. Here's how I described this feature in my review of IE 7 Beta 2: "Microsoft even lets you easily change the default search engine to your favorite, including Google," I wrote. "And there's none of the stupidity you might suspect Microsoft of engaging in here at all. The company is even maintaining a Web site full of search engine providers so you can pick your favorite search engine easily and get on with life."
Microsoft's response to Google is priceless. The software giant says that IE 7 is designed to be pro-user, whether Google likes it or not. "Whatever behavior happened in the past, the guiding principle we had is that the user is in control," says Dean Hachamovitch, the general manager of the Internet Explorer team at Microsoft. And if you're still terrified that IE 7 will harm Google, consider these facts: Google is set as the default search engine in most rival browsers, including Mozilla Firefox. And Google recently promoted Firefox on its heavily trafficked--and market-leading--Web site. The Firefox version Google points to, naturally, includes an integrated Google toolbar.
As a powerful monopolist, Microsoft should be watched carefully. But many of its competitors have chosen of late to compete in the courts rather than in the open market, perhaps because they feel that the software giant's legal woes make it more vulnerable. Google's allegation is frivolous. It's the dominant market leader in Internet search today and likely will be for some time to come. Google and Microsoft should be allowed to duke it out in traditional competitive ways for market share, eyeballs, and ad dollars.
==== Events and Resources ====
Learn the essentials about how consolidation and selected technology updates build an infrastructure that can handle change effectively. http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=289E8:610453
==== Featured White Paper ====
Learn how to address challenges such as making email truly available 24 x 7 x 365, securing against viruses, comprehensively backing up email data, and more. http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=289E7:610453
==== Announcement ====
Windows IT Pro Master CD--SAVE 50%! Subscribe today and get portable, high-speed access to the entire Windows IT Pro article database on CD: a searchable library that includes every Windows IT Pro issue ever published. The newest issue also includes BONUS Windows IT Tips. Order now and save: http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=289EB:610453
==== Contact Us ====
About the newsletter -- letters@windowsitpro.com About technical questions -- http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=289EE:610453 About product news -- products@windowsitpro.com About your subscription -- windowsitproupdate@windowsitpro.com About sponsoring an UPDATE -- emedia_opps@windowsitpro.com
====================
This email newsletter is brought to you by Windows IT Pro, the leading publication for IT professionals deploying Windows and related technologies. Subscribe today! http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=289ED:610453
Manage Your Account You are subscribed as news-and-stuff@arconati.us
You are receiving this email message because you subscribed to this newsletter on our Web site. To unsubscribe, click the unsubscribe link: http://penton.whatcounts.com/u?id=28351AE7DCFB1F6C686C859AE7D1ED6A
View the Windows IT Pro privacy policy at http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=289EC:610453
Windows IT Pro is a division of Penton Media Inc. 221 East 29th Street, Loveland, CO 80538 Attention: Customer Service Department
Copyright 2006, Penton Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.