And who is going to sue apple for closing down the iPhone to 3rd party developers?

This types of litigation are ridiculous, Microsoft made integrated “desktop search” – pursue other avenues of business. Guinness is not going to sue the consumer, because he decided to go with fosters. Or if the local government will outlaw street ice-cream vendors, they will think of a new way to make money, simple as that.

Now that google is big, they should not be stamping their foot on microsoft. Last I looked, this helps google more than anything... sheesh, google desktop slows down ANY pc, xp or vista... hell, atleast MS doesn't send my harddrive index to their servers.

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You can't really compare Apple's iPhone with MS Vista - the reason beeing that Apple produces the iPhone and MS produces no computers.

There are other issues as well, as in that Microsoft expect third parties to develop software for Vista, otherwise no one would buy it. And rightly so, it wouldn't be worth buying if only MS software was on it.

Thats not the case with iPhone from Apple.

why should microsoft be subjected to this kind of treatment from anyone.

maybe, just maybe if they weren't forced into changing/tweaking windows OS for every little company like google whose own failings cause them to gripe like babies, then just maybe Bill & co would more inclination to work out the bugs in the system rather than pandering to the whims of every little software developer who cries 'anti-trust'

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Although it is only available now in the good ol' US of A dont worry, microsoft has plenty of money left and localizations will be coming soon to a country near you!

No one can sue Apple over iPhone because Apple is not even a blip on the radar when it comes to market share of mobile phones. The same cannot be said for Microsoft and Windows. When you have a near monopoly special rules can and are applied by legislators.

Microsoft is the dominant desktop operating system vendor, as such, it operates a near monopoly. However, it has had a relative free hand - compare the actions of various governments and states to markets in regard to telecommunications providers - they are properly regulated when they appear to be a dominant player.

I guess the question is, where should the line be drawn... if Microsoft stops other media players working, disallows the installation of other Office software...at what stage would it all be scary ? Google search and others (e.g. Autonomy if they wanted to release a free all encompassing desktop search tool) should be able to install their software and, if there is any risk involved (e.g. privacy/security), the user should be able to make the choice, not Microsoft.

Of course, if they had less than 50% of the market then everyone could be completely relaxed about it all - even with Apple and Linux, this won't happen in the next 30 years. Google, the "do no evil" company, are at risk of being in the same place as Microsoft in terms of dominance, fortunately, they are picking fights with other 800lb gorillas such as Microsoft and eBay which I think is good for everyone...

You are correct that google is now big. This is not a reason not to step on Microsoft's toes however. In addition, the complaint was that Windows Vista slowed down Google Desktop search, not the other way around.

Any and all applications run on any OS will cause it is slow down, it is a simple fact of life. The important part is wether or not this slow down is noticeable or not.

Voskin - The difference is that Microsoft has a monopoly with windows, so the rules change.

> You can't really compare Apple's iPhone with MS

> Vista - the reason beeing that Apple produces the

> iPhone and MS produces no computers.

That is wrong - iPhone is just a mobile, with third-party components in there (pretty basic ones too - not even 3G!). Anybody can put a phone together like that, Apple are banking on the software features - like multi-touch-screen GUI, iTunes support and their widgets. In the same way, anybody can knock a PC together, but it is the software that Microsoft banks on. I think it is childish and wrong to force them to rewrite a core part of their new operating system just because Google and other's can't embed their search into the defaults. The searching is part of the OS... just as Apple's is, but I don't see Google threatening apple, or creating a Linux version of Google Desktop (which i would consider using btw)!!

> There are other issues as well, as in that Microsoft expect

> third parties to develop software for Vista, otherwise no one

> would buy it. And rightly so, it wouldn't be worth buying if

> only MS software was on it.

They expect people to develop for it because they open up channels for people to develop on it... that's what any operating system does. So just because Apple have an operating system that people can develop for does that mean people can demand access to key parts of the operating system? I am betting because this is being done on Vista there will be an exploit soon enough - then everyone will scream security at them.

> Thats not the case with iPhone from Apple.

Think I just explained it kind of is... at least with Apple and OSX...

> Voskin - The difference is that Microsoft has a monopoly

> with windows, so the rules change.

Yes - absolutely right... to a point. But only when it does not degrade the performance, security or usability of a system. Which is the reason people like Apple do not open key area's of the operating system like this! Having embedded search as a feature is key to any operating system... Google have no right to suddenly say "hang on, we do search, and people like searching... give us acess or else we will waste years and alot of your money in court".... if it was a new feature that Google had been doing before - maybe it would then be acceptable!

to Law. The simple reason it doesn't exist is that something better already exists. Give slocate a try.

Microsoft as a company has no obligation to play nice with other people's software. They are not in this case attempting to impair or prevent the use of 3rd party (in this case Google's software), they just made an operating system which does not work well with some software (I have Vista Home Premium, I know).

Developers should be fitting their software to the operating system, making a square peg to fit a squarehole, not complaining about how their square peg does not fit in a round hole. This almost like a tire maker suing a wheel maker because the wheel makers new wheels don't fit with the tire maker's tires.

"They are not in this case attempting to impair or prevent the use of 3rd party (in this case Google's software), they just made an operating system which does not work well with some software (I have Vista Home Premium, I know)."

>>We don't know this, in the past they have restricted other developers access including but not limited to not publishing O/S details and call mechanisms

"This almost like a tire maker suing a wheel maker because the wheel makers new wheels don't fit with the tire maker's tires."

>>Normally, wheel makers don't make tyers. In this case, the wheel maker has 90% market share and is now making tyres as well, introducing mechanisms to stop other tyers from working. As they have over 90% of the market, this effectively puts all the other companies in a position where they will be forced out of business. I think this is what the Sherman Act calls "restraint of trade" but I'm not a lawyer...

They should fight. Desktop search will be the most used application on

computers. - Finding and playing your Videos Music Pictures and Text.

Neither is "The Best" in the Desktop Search category.