Microsoft inks search pact with...Opera
Grovels to Norwegian nemesis
What you need to know about cloud backup
Microsoft has inked a deal with arch-nemesis Opera Software, convincing the Norwegians to make Bing one of the, um, "default search engine choices" on their latest desktop browser.
It's true. You can see for yourself by downloading the new Opera 10.60 beta here.
As announced by Microsoft Bing general manager Jon Tinter, this means that Bing has been added to the pull-down menu that changes the engine behind the search box in the top right hand corner of the browser. Yes, Google is still the default default search engine — i.e., if you start typing into the search box as is, you search Google.
Opera's new search box pull-down gets Binged
Nonetheless, the change is worth noting — if only because this is Opera. Opera is the company that complained to EU over Microsoft bundling Internet Explorer with Windows and sparked a probe that eventually led to the famous EU browser ballot screen.
A little birdie tells us that he noticed Bing in a previous version of Opera — but it didn't work. We never noticed this in our own pre-10.60 beta. But we wouldn't put it past the Norwegians.
You also notice that with Opera 10.60, Bing is the default default search engine on the browser's "speed dial" page, which pops up when you create a new tab.
Opera didn't mention Bing in its press release or any of the many posts announcing Opera 10.60, which arrived on Wednesday – though the Norwegians did discuss the addition of Bing to the speed dial page in announcing a new developer build earlier this week. Meanwhile, Tinter and Microsoft were more than happy to trumpet the news to world+dog. "It’s great to see Bing as a choice within another of the major browser products out there, and we hope all you Opera fans out there will go get the beta and give Bing a try," he said.
If you hadn't noticed, Microsoft is changing. Somewhere along the way, it realized it better start playing nicely with many of those it hasn't played nicely with the past.
Does that mean we'll see Bing in Firefox? Don't count on it — though Mozilla man Asa Dotzler recently urged Firefox users to switch to Bing after Google boss Eric Schmidt told the world that net privacy was only for miscreants. There's an even greater history of animosity between Mozilla and Microsoft.
Bing is already an search-box option on the latest Apple Safari browser, version 5, the one with the "make web go away" button. And it's on option on Chrome — though Chrome doesn't have a search box per se. It melds the browser search box and its address bar — i.e., if start keying random words into what appears to be the address bar, the browser lets you instantly search on the those words. Of course, the default search engine is Google, but you can swap it to Yahoo! or Bing. ®
COMMENTS
Just a Norse floozy on powdered Spanish Dragonfly
This isn't much of a surprise for me. Opera cheated on Google long ago by having a fling with Yahoo. That didn't work out so they went back to Google.
Then, a couple of years later Opera got Norwegian wood for Ask Jeeves and ran off with them too, until Google promised it would change and Opera went back to them again with that sad look upon its face like Gloria Gaynor's ex-partner in "I will Survive".
Now Opera's felt the itch again and has copped off with Bing for what I expect will prove to be nothing more than a quick Friday night knee-trembler up an alleyway, before pulling up its trousers and scurrying off back to Google, blaming it's absence on staying late at the office. I bet Bing was on all fours eating a portion of Harry Ramsden's finest throughout.
I don't know who's worse. Opera for being unable to control itself or Google for taking them back every time.
It'll be Alta Vista next. I bet the filthy vendor already has the Norse horn thinking about it.
a separate search bar?
lol! how quaint.
I've used Opera's keyword address bar search since it started. doesn't have autosuggest, but hopefully that'll come before too long. the convenience of doing a Google web search by typing "g search terms" or a Google image search by typing "i search terms" or a Youtube search with "yt search terms" or an Amazon search with "az search terms" or ... (you get the idea) is quite the win and I prefer it to Chrome's way of doing things.
Need an icon of The Cheat saying "Meh"
Nothing to see
Bing has always worked in the search box but I've hardly used it. Cuil is good enough most of my queries and failing that Goggle.
Bing was added to Speeddial search in one of the recent desktop team builds and announced as such. No stealth here and the competition amongst search engines is good for all.
For some reason Opera isn't "magical and revolutionary". It's just damn good at its job!
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
What you need to know about cloud backup
Enabling efficient data center monitoring
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Top 10 SIEM implementer’s checklist
