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A comment on Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Office365 ProPlus installer. Parent comment

Re:Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Offi... by LeonM on Thursday January 23, 2020 @07:08AM (#22126874)
> By what right does google set the search engine to begin with? They use their browser's popularity for a competitive advantage and that's legal.

I'd say it's customer expectation. The slogan in the Chrome website is: Now more simple, secure, and faster than ever - with help from Google built‑in [0]

So, if I install Chrome I expect Google search to be built-in, and I am okay with that because it was clearly stated on the product page.

Now, when I install Office, which is not a browser to begin with, I don't expect it to change my default search provider.

[0] https://www.google.com/chrome/

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Offi... by wdobbels on Thursday January 23, 2020 @07:42AM (#22127020)
Exactly. The browser provides a URL bar that is coupled to a search engine. It makes sense for the browser to provide you with a default option for that search engine. A web browser is something that needs to be on every computer; so it makes sense that the OS installs a default web browser.

What doesn't make sense is that some software (office) tampers with your preferences for a (mostly) unrelated piece of software (chrome). That is not office's responsibility.

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Re:Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Offi... by lonelappde on Thursday January 23, 2020 @09:52AM (#22127960)
Do you know how many years and millions of dollars the US government spent prosecuting Microsoft for their belief that " web browser is something that needs to be on every computer"?
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Re:Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Offi... by Karunamon on Thursday January 23, 2020 @10:00AM (#22128009)
Inaccurate. Microsoft was not prosecuted for merely including IE, they were prosecuted for forcing OEMs to not include anything else (Netscape).
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Re:Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Offi... by jchw on Thursday January 23, 2020 @11:25AM (#22128802)
That’s, to my knowledge, a pretty big misrepresentation of the case, that from my understanding has quite a few facets.

> Microsoft would terminate Compaq's licence if it removed IE and substituted Netscape, or even if it put the Netscape icon alongside the Explorer one.

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Re:Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Offi... by wizzwizz4 on Thursday January 23, 2020 @06:11PM (#22133346)
That sounds like the G-suite on Android.
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Re:Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Offi... by Traster on Thursday January 23, 2020 @11:54AM (#22129151)
Okay, and how do we compare that to the legal trouble microsoft had with setting IE as the default browser. As a customer of course I expect IE to be built in to windows. Yet that wasn't ok.
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Re:Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Offi... by C1sc0cat on Thursday January 23, 2020 @10:24AM (#22128226)
I don't I expect a browser to be a browser and that's the exact argument Microsoft lost about bundling IE with windows
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Re:Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Offi... by lonelappde on Thursday January 23, 2020 @09:50AM (#22127940)
Why is a browser a search engine but an office suite isn't?
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Re:Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing via Offi... by cmcd on Thursday January 23, 2020 @10:00AM (#22128012)
What do you mean? There is no reason an office suite should be changing configuration for your browser without explicitly asking.
[ Parent | on HN ]