Microsoft and Google reach desktop search agreement

The New York Times is reporting that Microsoft has agreed to make some changes to the desktop search feature included in Windows Vista.

Google had filed a complaint against Microsoft, claiming that Windows Vista’s search feature was designed so that it wouldn’t play nice with Google Desktop search. In a nutshell, Google was making a familiar complaint about Microsoft software: that it was anti-competitive.

At issue is the fact that users who run Google Desktop on Windows Vista might notice their computer behave slowly. This is because the two desktop search programs are both frequently scanning your computer for new and changed files to store in an index.

At this point, it’s not clear exactly what changes Microsoft has agreed to make, but there will be changes. Oh yes, there will. We think.