Thursday, July 28, 2005

FUD

The Register writes:

IE7 integrates search into the browser, but the only option is Microsoft's own MSN Search.

Really? Here's what my version looks like:



And guess what? My default search engine in IE6 was Google, and it bound the IE7 search box to it by default after upgrading. Way to respect, IE team!

About a month ago I had an interesting exchange via blog comments with a buddy of mine who works for Apple. The conversation eventually moved over to AIM... and he asked if I'd wager $50 against his claim that IE7 wouldn't easily let users change their default search engine. Having no insider information whatsoever (my pre-beta version at the time didn't have this feature yet), I agreed -- despite the fact that Apple's own browser, Safari, does not provide the same functionality.

Mike, how about donating the $50 to the Mozilla Foundation? It's no secret that their healthy competition helped bring about IE7 -- I don't mind helping them continue to push the limits.

It's also worth noting that while I can't talk about what's coming in Beta 2, Beta 1 isn't meant to be a showcase of flashy innovations for the end user.D on't believe the FUD in the meantime.

Scoble has more on this...

Update: The Register updated their story, but still don't cut Microsoft any slack.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry to be Mr Anonymous Picky but respecting previous settings (while itself laudable) is not exactly the same as actually changing the settings. I'm sure that changing the settings works just fine, but you haven't provided quite enough proof to win your bet yet.

Mr A Picky.

Anonymous said...

sheeshh...

1. Click on the magnifier to drop down the search menu and select options.
2. In the resulting dialog, select the search engine of your choice.
3. Click the Set Default button.
4. Click on OK
5. Profit

Jorgie