Search, Windows Live Deals Signed

Recently signed partnerships could increase usage of Microsoft’s Live Search and Windows Live services. Dell, Verizon, and Sun Microsystems will ship products that include Web search panes with Live Search set as the default. However, similar deals in the past with Lenovo and Sprint have not helped Microsoft’s search engine, which has languished around 10% market share since its launch nearly four years ago. Separately, Facebook announced that it would provide feeds to various Windows Live services.

Dell Is First OEM for Windows Live Essentials

Since Oct. 2008, Microsoft has announced several notable partnerships for its online services:

Dell. Under a three-year exclusive deal, beginning on Feb. 1, 2009, Dell will ship the Windows Live Essentials suite on new consumer and small business PCs it sells in 23 countries, including the United States.

Part of the Essentials suite is the Windows Live Toolbar, an add-on to Internet Explorer (IE) that includes a search pane for users to conduct searches on Live Search. In addition, the separate IE search pane—which is part of IE regardless of whether the Windows Live Toolbar is installed or not—will be set to Live Search by default. (For an illustration of these search panes together, see “Windows Live Toolbar and IE Search Pane“.) The deal is an important takeaway for Microsoft, as Dell had been shipping the Google Toolbar on new PCs since 2006.