Dell broke the heart of another long time amour this week, ditching Microsoft in favour of Google as the pre-installed search engine on its machines.

According to a rash of US reports, Eric Schmidt told an investor conference yesterday that Dell PCs are to be Googled, with the search giant's desktop, toolbar, search engine, and home page all lovingly pre-installed. Previously, Dell customers would see their new machines spark into life plastered with Microsoft logos. The tie-up will cover the vendor's SME and consumer machines, according to reports, and may extend to some enterprise systems.

Dell, the quintessential Wintel house, announced last week that it would for the first time use AMD parts in its hardware.

In a third piece of desperate shape shifting, the vendor which pioneered the direct model to market announced this week that it would open its own retail outlets in the US.

Anyone would think Round Rock's finest was trying to invent itself in the face of slowing revenue growth and sliding profits Hang-on, it has just reported slowing revenue growth and sliding profits.

Is the world's biggest PC vendor having some sort of mid-life crisis? Here at El Reg we're dreading the moment Michael calls us and says, "it's not you, it's me", before kick starting his newly-bought Harley and riding off into the sunset, singing "I want to break free". ®

Related stories

• Microsoft goes a bundle with Lenovo PCs (14 March 2007)
• Dell warns of Q2 earnings bloodbath (21 July 2006)
• Google doubles down on Q2 profit (21 July 2006)
• Dell Falls for AMD - analyst (19 July 2006)
• Dell eyes chocolate cake as image booster (8 June 2006)
• Dell deals multimedia TFT displays (7 June 2006)
• Dell hooks up with Skype (2 June 2006)
• Dell holds nose and tries retail (24 May 2006)
• Analysis Dell takes care of Wall Street, not customers with AMD move (19 May 2006)
• Dell: 'We'll cut prices and ... er, cut prices' (19 May 2006)
• Dell hooks up with AMD (18 May 2006)
• Dell tools up with Google (8 February 2006)