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Microsoft Changing Users' Default Search Engine

Posted by timothy on from the now-what-did-we-say-about-playground-behavior? dept.

BabyDuckHat writes "Cnet's Dennis O'Reilly caught 'Windows Search Helper' trying to change his default Firefox search from Google to Bing. This isn't the first time the software company has been caught quietly changing user's preferences to benefit its own products."

9 of 389 comments (clear)

  1. Surprise surprise... by BikeHelmet · · Score: 1, Troll

    Oh wait... no it isn't.

    This is my biggest beef with Microsoft - thinking they know what you want more than you do, and installing crap on my PC(or changing preferences) without asking.

    1. Re:Surprise surprise... by fabs64 · · Score: 1, Troll

      Correct. It's more of a problem with the "bare-metal" way windows handles start menu and desktop shortcuts for applications.

  2. So... by Darkness404 · · Score: 0, Troll

    So MS does this to attempt to trick people into using Bing, yet Google is the one with the antitrust investigation? Seriously, who came up with this? A 5 year old could see the difference between MS and Google and see that MS is obviously abusing its OS monopoly while Google is simply the best at what it does.

    --
    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  3. News? by pilsner.urquell · · Score: 0, Troll

    What's new? As someone who hasn't used Windows since 1995 I have no sympathy.

  4. Re:Really? by X0563511 · · Score: 0, Troll

    You know what is even more suprising? My resultant attitude:

    Fuck you and your "Bing," Microsoft. Search isn't your thing, stay the hell away from it. "Do not want."

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    For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
  5. I knew there was a reason by younata · · Score: 0, Troll

    why I use bsd/linux/some other free OS.

  6. Re:Once more with feeling by SolitaryMan · · Score: 0, Troll

    It is not a monopoly when Apple does it?

    --
    May Peace Prevail On Earth
  7. Re:They're changing the default software in Linux by pandrijeczko · · Score: 0, Troll

    I think you had better say more as I for one have no idea what point you're trying to make.

    Mono is an open source suite of tools designed to provide a common programming platform that happens to integrate with DotNET.

    Besides which, anyone who complains about Microsoft setting the default search engine probably needs to be spending less time on Slashdot and more time learning how their computer works so they can just change it back if they don't like it.

    As a mainly Linux user with a couple of XP machines, even I don't see it as a problem...

    --
    Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
  8. Re:Once more with feeling by 1s44c · · Score: 0, Troll

    without the option to tell it not to

    What? You can't see the big 'No' button next to the big 'Yes' button?

    No.. The vast majority of windows users don't read dialog boxes, they just click whatever to make them go away.

    Windows is meant to be software for people who don't want to understand, which is why so many people use it.