How to Make Google Your Default Search Provider in Internet Explorer 7, Beta 2

Google is complaining to the Department of Justice and the EU that Microsoft's forthcoming Internet Explorer 7 improperly encourages users to use MSN Search instead of a search engine of the user's choice. Google claims "research it has sponsored shows that it's difficult to change the settings in the new browser to a rival search engine."

I decided to do a little research of my own to see how "difficult" it is. Please watch this video:

[Sorry about using WMV. I hate it too.]

As you can see, it is a very simple 10-second process that most people could figure out without much effort.

I dislike IE and never use it, and I think Google is a great search engine, but it seems to me they are reaching a bit on this one. If it were me, I guess what I would ask is that Microsoft document how to create whatever kind of file it is that lets the toolbar's search feature use a given provider. They may have already done this -- I'm not sure. Update: Not only have they already done that, but the little plug-in or whatever you call it uses A9's OpenSearch format.