A report came out of CNET yesterday about a Windows component called the Windows Search Service, which seems to be trying to change users’ default search engine in Firefox. Dennis O’Reilly wrote up a method for preventing this from happening, and changing one’s default search engine is always pretty simple. But this looks a tad suspicious, considering Microsoft’s newfound commitment to search and the company’s past history of tampering with competitors.
Of course, all we know is that something attempted to change search via a Windows component. This could be the byproduct of some sort of malware, as there is money to be made from controlling parts of what users do online. But the timing of this news, given Bing’s current success, is a little fishy.
