Microsoft is changing Vista to level the desktop search playing field for Google and other third parties, Reuters is reporting. The rivals are to file a joint report on the proposed changes in federal court today, according to an anonymous source cited by the newswire.

In December last year, Google filed an anti-trust complaint with the Department of Justice against Microsoft. The complaint has not been made public, but according to reports, it alleges that Vista leaves too little room for third party apps to search a hard drive and that it slows down Google's desktop search product.

Earlier this month, the DoJ came out on Microsoft's side and sent a memo urging state authorities to reject Google's anti-trust claim against Microsoft, the New York Times reported. The newspaper notes that such an action is very unusual and may have had the opposite effect - several states will pursue the case with or without federal help.

So: no action from the feds and lots of threats from state A-Gs. Microsoft must be really, really keen to avoid another anti-trust suit, for it to settle so quickly with what is its arch-rival in so many spheres. ®

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