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Topic: Browser

'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

Summary: Automatically set Bing as your search default AND homepage!

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

Was it YOU that asked for 'Firefox with Bing'? I didn't!

Yesterday Microsoft and Mozilla unveiled a joint plan to bring a new version of Firefox - Firefox with Bing.

Wait a minute ... can't you already choose Microsoft's Bing as the default search engine in Firefox already? Yes, yes you can.

So what's the deal here? Well, not only will Bing be your default search engine, but ... wait for it ... Bing will also be your homepage.

That's it. That's all that's different. You can change both the homepage and the Bing search engine defaults ... however ... while I can seem to remove Bing from the search options, it reappears when I restart the browser. Worse than that, when I restart the browser a second time, Bing is back as the default. That seems naughty, even if people have downloaded 'Firefox with Bing'.

Why come out with this? Well, according to Microsoft, you asked for it!

Last year, we worked with Mozilla to add Bing as a search option that ships with Firefox. Since that time, you have told us to make it even easier to use Bing in Firefox.

I didn't ask for this, so I'm assuming it must have been you ...

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Topic: Browser

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25 comments
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  • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

    I don't even use Firefox anymore.
    esadajr
    Reply Vote

    • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

      @esadajr

      Nice to know.
      Win8AnUglyDisaster
      Reply Vote

  • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

    Go Microsoft!
    DreyerSmit
    Reply 1 Vote

  • Very bad decision on Mozilla's part....

    By making Bing search and homepage the defaults, and then making it impossible to make any change permanent, Firefox will start losing the market share that they picked up from IE. Firefox will no longer be the browser of choice for me, Chrome just went to the head of the class.
    linux for me
    Reply Vote

    • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

      @linux for me
      This move is very suspicious folks.
      No sane person would do something like that.
      I suspect M$ placed sleeper agents at Mozilla to sabotage FOSS, just like they did with nokia:
      http://techrights.org/2011/10/25/nokia-patent-aspects/
      The Linux Geek
      Reply Vote

      • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

        @The Linux Geek How do you get that tin-foil hat of yours through airport security?
        ssaha
        Reply Vote

      • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

        @The Linux Geek

        Yep so much better to use the search engine from the advertising company - they're not evil, they said so ;-)
        tonymcs@...
        Reply 1 Vote

  • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

    Bing is awesome, sift through 30 pages of crap instead of just using Google and finding what you want on the first page...
    MacN.Neddy
    Reply Vote

    • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

      @MacN.Neddy I can see you need to learn how to search if you have to look through 30 pages on bing to find what you need? When I search on bing it is in the top 5 results. This is a Firefox story and not so much a microsoft story. Go on Troll!
      imsimsj
      Reply 1 Vote

      • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

        @imsimsj You did of course read the headline, right? That Firefox is prebundled with Bing which is [i]Microsoft's[/i] search engine... so yeah it is very much a Microsoft story as well. Go on Troll!!
        athynz
        Reply Vote

    • Or using Blekko

      @MacN.Neddy Or using Blekko and avoiding the content farms and ads on that first page.
      opcom
      Reply Vote

  • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

    http://snipurl.com/2dkivf
    HRSYRW
    Reply Vote

  • Yep, I asked for it. GoDaddy works better with Firefox.

    It's about time...I use both Firefox and IE and since Bing is my default on both its nice to see I don't have to keep getting rid of the Google crap. Besides Microsoft has always embraced partners unlike Google that used Firefox only to toss them to the curb and try to eliminate them with Chrome. At least with Microsoft Mozilla can have more of a future than what Google has to offer it.
    GeiselS@...
    Reply 1 Vote

    • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

      @GeiselS@... Sure, I agree. They are also doing it against Adobe with HTML5, so much for bundling their Flash program into Chrome just to work on something that competes, huh?<br><br>Also, yes, they have had failures, but Chrome is gaining ground, so its future is very bright. I'll have to admit it, even if I despise it.
      megamanx
      Reply Vote

  • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

    [i]Was it YOU that asked for ???Firefox with Bing????[/i]
    Yes it was. By having Microsoft Bing as the default search and homepage on Firefox that means I don't have to go to each machine with Firefox installed and change it manually. Microsoft is doing me a favor here. Not only that but Bing has the most relevant search results and I don't have to worry about companies trying to game the Bing system.
    LoverockDavidson_-24231404894599612871915491754222
    Reply Vote

  • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

    I am a bing user for 2 years and produces better results than google. I think the only disadvantage bing has is that it still doesn't have covererage in a lot of countries while google has more. But MS will be closing that gap pretty soon, once they roll out more data centres.
    owlnet
    Reply 1 Vote

  • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

    I certainly did NOT ask for it. If this becomes some kind of "stealth" install via an update, Firefox is goes away. I've gotten sick and tire of Mozilla claiming "improvements" while degrading the product. I'll go back to IE9.0 and manually set "Google" as my default search engine and "blank" as my home page.
    TsarNikky
    Reply Vote

  • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

    Back in office land, MS had the research to say the vast majority of users never used any customization features, so it would make sense for them to court that same "Defaults fine" mindset that's so prevalent.
    brendan@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!

    Looks like Mozilla is getting a bigger reward from Microsoft than Google
    mrlinux
    Reply Vote

  • Looks like it's Windows-only

    I get a "Sorry, this download is not supported by your system" message on the site no matter what browser I use.






    :)
    none none
    Reply Vote
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