Google has made informal complaints to competition authorities in Europe and the US about default settings in Microsoft's IE7.

The latest Microsoft browser includes a small window so users can search without opening up a specific page. The default setting sends users to MSN for searches - just as equivalent features in Opera and Firefox send browsers to Google.

A spokesman for the search giant told the New York Times it was concerned Microsoft was limiting choice. Google told the paper it would support choice on all browsers. More here.

Microsoft and Google both have research "proving" that users can, or cannot, easily reset default settings on IE7.

After talking to Microsoft about its worries, Google took its concerns to the US Justice Department and the European Commission. Microsoft was in court last week appealing the EC anti-trust decision of 2004. The EC has already said it is looking at Vista so the last thing Microsoft needs is another investigation. ®