Microsoft agrees to modify Vista to suit Google search
Mumbai: Microsoft Corporation has agreed to modify its Windows Vista operating system, following complaints by web search giant Google that the programme's design hurts competing search and is in violation of a 2001 antitrust settlement, the justice department and Microsoft said.

Under an agreement with the department and 17 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, Microsoft will build into Vista an option to let users select a default desktop search programme on personal computers running Windows.

Microsoft had also pledged to place links inside the Internet Explorer window and the "Start" navigation menu to make it easier for people to access that default desktop search service.

The changes will be introduced in a service pack, or updated version of Windows Vista software. Microsoft said it anticipates a test version of the Vista Service Pack 1 to be ready by the year-end.

The accord, reached with the US justice department and state antitrust regulators, addresses complaints by Google, owner of the world's most-used internet search engine that its desktop search programme doesn't perform properly on Vista.

Microsoft, the world's biggest software company, is barred under a decree from taking steps to disadvantage desktop software made by rival companies. The decree ended a government antitrust suit.
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US SEC eases accounting rule for foreign companies
Washington: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) tentatively agreed Wednesday to ease an accounting requirement for foreign companies that trade on United States exchanges. The step would eliminate a requirement for foreign companies to reconcile their financial results with United States standards, called generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP.

Foreign companies, which adhere to what are called international financial reporting standards, find the SEC mandate to be burdensome and costly.

The action by the Securities and Exchange Commission paves the way for a related change that would allow public companies to choose between international and United States accounting standards when reporting financial results.

The change, which awaits formal adoption after a 75-day public comment period, would apply to 2008 annual reports, which are submitted in early 2009.

Eliminating the requirement to match federal standards "could help to make US markets more attractive to foreign companies," Paul S. Atkins, an SEC commissioner, said at a meeting on Wednesday.

Market analysts, however, warn that eliminating the requirement would make it harder for investors to evaluate and compare financial results of different companies.

The international standards are deemed especially desirable for large United States companies with foreign subsidiaries, which now must maintain two different sets of books.
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Murdoch may trade off MySpace for a piece of Yahoo!
New York: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch may be seeking a trade off with his MySpace social networking site for a quarter of internet portal company Yahoo!, according to emerging media reports.

MySpace, is the web's top social networking site, which Murdoch acquired, along with other internet-related assets, for $650 million in 2005. It has an estimated 100 million users.

The deal would give News Corp access to Yahoo's total audience of an estimated 100 million users a month and help it provide exposure in a large internet-based business, the report said.

However, the media mogul would lose overall control of MySpace, if such a deal should occur. It would also see Yahoo gaining a foothold into social networking, which it previously attempted with Facebook.
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