Perusing my Daring Fireball Linked List subscription, I saw this story at the Times. Before I go on any further, let me say that this is MacStansbury, not PCStansbury, or WindowsStansbury. I hate Microsoft with a hatred and passion of a thousand burning suns.

That said, I gotta go with Microsoft on this one.

Now, now, before you get the pitchforks and torches ready, lemme tell you just what my reasoning is. Yeah, I may not be gung-ho for Google for the most part, and I really do hate Microsoft, but I don't see as how Microsoft is doing anything wrong with promoting their own brand. They built the browser, they get to set it up how they want it.

That would be the problem, I guess, they set the browser up how they want it. Microsoft (for some unknown reason) wants you to use Windows Live - it's stunning, really. And, to change the settings from one search engine to another, you have to complete a four-step process, one that Google claims only a third of users could complete.

I will give Google one thing, people using Internet Explorer aren't the brightest light-bulbs in the marquee. Then again, I'm a pretty smart, techy kind of guy, and I'd think a four-step process would be a dream. I'm not using Internet Explorer, I'm using Safari RSS. To change the default search engine, here's the 12-step process:

1. Search for "change default Safari search engine" on the internet.
2. I'll save you a lot of effort (a mulligan, if you will), and tell you AcidSearch is what you're looking for.
3. Download the installer.
4. Turn off Safari and install AcidSearch.
5. Turn Safari back on, and set up AcidSearch.
6. Go into the AcidSearch preferences, and click the "More Channels..."
7. I've seen them neat Ask.com commercials on TV, so I wanna use that, but it's not in there, it looks.
8. Okay, seeing as how I'm already giving you all kind of gimmes, I'll tell you the only way to add it is to go to Ask.com.
9. While you've got the Ask.com open in the browser window, click on the "New Channel" button.
10. The Ask.com URL will be added (trust me, it looks like squiggles, but that's how it's supposed to look)
11. Move it up to the top of the list.
12. Then go into the options, and set Ask.com as the default search engine.

There. I feel better now.

Now, for Firefox, it's rather easy to do what I just did.

1. First, open Firefox (who's got a conspicuous default home-page).
2. Then, add Ask.com as a search page.
3. Then, switch to Ask.com.

You would think that Apple could make this part of Safari, but there's no official way to change it from Google. AcidSearch, nice as it is, is a hack, and makes Safari crash even more than normal. The unquestioned popularity of Google and its connection with Apple's default browser make me scoff when I hear about Google's opposition of Microsoft using it's own search engine.

I wonder where the outcries were for Apple to stop using QuickTime as the default media player, and open it up to use Windows Media format? No? You mean, Apple shouldn't have to use it's chief competitor as part of its operating system? That's madness!

Or, perhaps, sour grapes. Other than the courts, Google has little ability to influence Microsoft, and Google got in the search engine business long after Microsoft, and that was after Yahoo! proved there was money in search. Make no doubt, the only "choice" Google wants you to make is to them. Then again, that's exactly what Microsoft wants.

The IEBlog actually documents how to change search engines. And, there's something called "OpenSearch" where you go to a site, it shows up in the search box, and BANG! you got a new search engine. I know this, as I did it on the month-long flirtation with IE 7 beta 1. It's not something I like to talk about...I was young, I needed the money...

Strangely, Internet Explorer is the only browser that uses this technology. Maybe Google should be talking to the Firefox, Apple, and Opera people about that.

status: published
lastmod: '2006-10-01T04:07:20.000Z'
author: John Stansbury
cms: wordpress
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