KMFMS

[Guest]

Complete story at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070619.wmicrogoogle0620/BNStory/Technology/home

Excerpt follows:
SEATTLE — — Microsoft Corp. [MSFT-Q] will make changes to the program that helps Windows Vista users search their hard drives, in response to antitrust complaints from Google Inc., [GOOG-Q] according to a U.S. Justice Department report issued late Tuesday.

Google filed a 49-page document with the Justice Department in April claiming Vista's desktop search tool slowed down competing programs, including Google's own free offering, and that it's difficult for users to figure out how to turn off the Microsoft program.

Microsoft initially dismissed the allegations, saying regulators had reviewed the program before Vista launched. However, Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, said in an interview last week that the company was willing to make changes if necessary.

Google's claims were intended to show that the world's largest software maker is not complying with a settlement reached in 2002 after the government concluded Microsoft used its near-ubiquitous Windows operating system to throttle competition. As part of the settlement, Microsoft is bound by a consent decree that requires it to help rivals build software that runs smoothly on Windows.