November 10th, 2008
Sun switches search alliances from Google to Microsoft
Which came first — Google dropping StarOffice from its Google Pack or Sun agreeing to distribute Microsoft’s Live-Search-powered MSN toolbar with the Java runtime?
We’ll probably never know (at least until Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz blogs about it). But the new deal, announced on November 10, between Sun and Microsoft is ironic, if nothing else, given the twisted history between the two over Java.
(In 1997, Sun sued Microsoft, for alleged misuse of Sun’s Java technology. Microsoft paid $20 million to Sun as a settlement. In 2002, Sun filed a civil antitrust suit against Microsoft over Java again. Microsoft ended up paying Sun $700-million-plus in 2004 to settle “all outstanding antitrust issues.”)
In 2005, Sun struck a deal with Google to bundle the Google toolbar with Java. That deal is replaced by the new agreement with Microsoft — although in the U.S. only and only for Internet Explorer users, as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer notes. The Google toolbar will still be bundled with Java overseas.
Microsoft has been seeking partners to preload its Live Search and other Windows Live properties on new PCs and/or as part of their software offerings.
Microsoft is slated to launch the final “Wave 3″ release of its Live services on November 12, company officials said recently. Microsoft has been beta testing its Wave 3 release of its Live Essentials suite for the past couple of months.
The new Live Essentials suite, unified via a common installer, includes updated versions of Windows Live Messenger instant-messaging; Windows Live Mail (with a new and improved Live Calendar); Windows Live Writer blog-posting tool; Windows Live Movie Maker; Windows Live Photo Gallery, the Family Safety parental control tools and the Outlook Connector.
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| 11/10/08
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