Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Justice Dept. Defends Microsoft Against Google

Posted by Zonk on from the friends-in-high-places dept.

Frosty Piss writes "The Seattle PI reports that Google has complained to US antitrust officials about the hard-drive searching tool built into Windows Vista, saying that it stymies Google's similar search program. The complaint, lodged late last year, was revealed Saturday by The New York Times in a story about the Bush administration's handling of Microsoft antitrust issues. The real story, though, is not the Google complaint itself, but how the Justice Department is failing to enforce the Microsoft anti-trust decree. According to the story, Thomas Barnett, the assistant U.S. attorney general in charge of antitrust issues, sent a memo last month to state attorneys general across the nation, seeking to persuade them to reject Google's complaint."

1 of 329 comments (clear)

  1. Euphamism by JamesRose · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Google saying we want it for the search to be able to be disabled is b/s. I hate it when programs do this to my files, I install VLC because it plays everything, but I only want to use it for my files that wmp can't play, I skip through the installation like anyone else and before I know it all my files are opening in the wrong bloody application and i have to go and change all my settings in a menu in a menu in a menu, which most users would not find.

    The same thing will blatantly happen here, google will install this crap, you click through the install like usual and your windows search is gone. I DONT WANT YOU DECIDING TO STOP OTHER PROGRAMS RUNNING ON MY MACHINE. Software companies never understand this, they just walk into your system and shut down competing system like they have sort of right, bullshit. Windows doesn't let desktop search shut down, and good for them, its not like they are disabling other search engines, they just make sure you always have their software waiting for you. Google is getting more evil by the day and I'll have no part of it. The only way I would support this, is if you can disable the search engine in the control panel, not let programs disable, let YOU PHYSICALLY GO THERE AND CHOOSE TO DISABLE IT IF YOU ARE BOTHERED.

    Google will keep pushing untill it gets the reputation of microsoft, will do a little good and people will embrace them because we want to like them, well I'm not gonna use any of their desktop/search bar/downloadable software at all.