Microsoft is forcing people to use its Bing search engine with the Cortana digital assistant in Windows 10.
Every search done this way will also be piped only through its recently released Edge browser.
In a blogpost, Microsoft said it was making people use Bing so they could get the most out of other search-related features in its products.
Many Cortana users have previously preferred to carry out searches with Google rather than Bing.
Windows users will still be able to install other web browsers and use other search engines outside Cortana, said Ryan Gavin, Microsoft’s head of search and Cortana, in the blogpost.
However, he said, Microsoft was adding extras to Edge and Bing that meant it made sense to tie these programs to Cortana instead of other search engines and browsers.
Anything else would be a “compromised experience that is less reliable and predictable”, he said.
The extra features will differ depending on what people search for, but if someone used Cortana to look for a restaurant the browser would take them to the relevant webpage and add in a map to show the closest locations, Mr Gavin said.
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