Is this really the only way Microsoft can make their products look good, by overtly attempting to damage competitors' products?

"Rupert Murdoch is pointing a gun to Google's head, and Microsoft is helping him pull back the trigger."

Oh old Rupert, is it really Google's head, or did you write G O O G L E on your toes? (Yeah that's right, Rupert Murdoch has 6 toes on each foot, you heard it here first!)

Murdoch seems to think that people use Google to search Murdoch's sites. By Murdoch's logic, clearly if he withdraws his sites from Google, people will stop using Google to search his sites. But hardly anyone using Google has the intention of "searching his sites". People just want information--most people don't care which site has the information as long as it's good information. If Murdoch pulls out of Google that just means fewer people will visit Murdoch's sites. Nobody is going to give a toss about the fact that Fox won't show up on Google. This entire strategy suggests that Murdoch misunderstands his own readers.