Microsoft finds Google to help promote Windows
Microsoft Corp. has found an unlikely new partner to help promote Windows XP: Google Inc.
While senior Microsoft executives pit the company against Google in a looming Internet search war, the Redmond, Washington-based company last week started offering a Google search tool for download from the Microsoft.com Web site.
Google's Deskbar is included in Microsoft's Partner Pack for Windows, a collection of Microsoft and third-party products released last week that Microsoft describes on its Web site as "the ultimate application package" for a Windows XP PC. (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/partnerpack/)
The Deskbar adds a search box to the Windows taskbar, allowing users to search the Web with Google without having to start a Web browser. (http://deskbar.google.com/) Other applications in the Partner Pack include Computer Associates International Inc.'s eTrust EZ Antivirus 2005 and Post-it Software Notes from 3M Co.
Microsoft's promotion of the Google Deskbar comes as it works to deliver a beta version of its own MSN Search engine and a desktop search application by the end of this year.
"We should see some good MSN search technology in this calendar year, probably late in the second half, and we're going to have a heck of a great race in search between Google, Microsoft and Yahoo (Inc.). It will be really fun to follow," Microsoft Chief Financial Officer John Connors said last week during the company's quarterly earnings call.
Inclusion of the Google Deskbar in the Windows Partner Pack is an example of how Google can be a partner for Microsoft's large Windows group while at the same time a rival to MSN, a relatively small Microsoft group that in June ended its first profitable year ever, said Joe Wilcox, a Washington, D.C.-based Jupiter Research senior analyst.
"While the MSN Search folks may be in hot competition with Google, for the Windows platform Google is a valuable partner," Wilcox said.
With Windows XP adoption lagging, Microsoft's biggest challenge right now is promoting Windows XP's capabilities, Wilcox said. "Over the last couple months, Microsoft has stepped up XP evangelism, in part by showing the capability of partner products that extend the operating system
IDG News Service
Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world
jfruh
Apple syncing patent can't come soon enough
pasmith
New Twitter features borrow from 3rd party clients
Esther Schindler
Open Source Changes the Software Acquisition Process
mikelgan
How to set up continuous podcast play on the new iTunes
David Strom
Five important Windows 7 mobility features
sjvn
Guard your Wi-Fi for your own sake
Sandra Henry-Stocker
Grepping on Whole Words
Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325
Join the conversation here
Quick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.
Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.













