Next to the browser is the 'battle' toolbar

In parallel with the fierce competition between Internet Explorer, Firefox ., computer users will also witness an "install toolbar" race this year.

According to Roger Kay, president of Endpoint (USA), in fact, users of computers connected to the Internet all open a browser at least once a day and the toolbar contains important utilities that will attract attention. From the user side, the browser is becoming the " most high-end land " on the PC for software companies to promote products.

Google intends to partner with Dell to bring Google Toolbar, Google Desktop Search . into new systems of American computer manufacturers. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the three-year deal will bring $ 1 billion to Dell. Dell's representative confirmed they were considering the contract but declined to comment on the relationship between the two companies. Observers have argued that Google's investment of billions of dollars just to win room on the PC to disseminate services to customers who are still using Google's tools is a "luxury" decision.

Google also shook hands with a number of manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Apple Computer and Toshiba to install the default Google Toolbar. Gateway announced yesterday that it will integrate the search engine's toolbar on the upcoming computer.

Google's competitors, like AOL, Yahoo and MSN, are also pursuing similar contracts. AOL recently confirmed that their website will become the default startup page on the new Sony Vaio.

Winning a position to place the product icon (icon) on the personal computer has appeared 5 years ago. At that time, many software vendors raced to "rent the land" on the desktop after the US court forced Microsoft to "open" the Windows desktop environment to increase competitiveness. Some companies like America Online and CompuServe quickly occupied "beautiful" locations for their dial-up services but did not achieve the expected results. Customers ignore the icons they don't use or use their own program to remove them on the desktop and in the Start menu.

However, Kay believes that when software companies start releasing products as a service (SAS) over the Internet, it is particularly important to entice customers to use only one brand. "Companies understand that up to half of users do not want to change what they default to, even if they are given more choices," Kay said.