Microsoft agrees to modify Vista to suit Google search

Mumbai: Microsoft Corporation has agreed to modify its Windows Vista operating system following complaints by web search giant Google that the programme''s design hurts competing search and is in violation of a 2001 antitrust settlement, the justice department and Microsoft said.

Under an agreement with the department and 17 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, Microsoft will build into Vista an option to let users select a default desktop search programme on personal computers running Windows.

The function, known as "Instant Search," allows Windows users to enter a search query and get a list of results from their hard drive that contain the search term.

Microsoft had also pledged to place links inside the Internet Explorer window and the "Start" navigation menu to make it easier for people to access that default desktop search service.

The changes will be introduced in a service pack, or updated version of Windows Vista software. Microsoft said it anticipates a test version of the Vista Service Pack 1 to be ready by the year-end.

The agreement was made public as part of a joint report that the justice department and Microsoft filed late on June 19 with the court overseeing Microsoft''s compliance with a 2002 antitrust consent decree.

The accord, reached with the US justice department and state antitrust regulators, addresses complaints by Google, owner of the world''s most-used internet search engine that its desktop search programme doesn''t perform properly on Vista.

Microsoft, the world''s biggest software company, is barred under a decree from taking steps to disadvantage desktop software made by rival companies. The decree ended a government antitrust suit.