The AI-powered chatbot is coming soon to the company's search engine and those eager to give it a spin can sign up for the waitlist. But let's say you're beyond eager to kick Microsoft's GPT tires. You're in an emotional place where no inconvenience is too bothersome, nor no pain too great in exchange for moving further ahead in the line. Microsoft has just the proposal for you, then--you can trade control over your browser (and Windows) defaults for a spot further ahead on the waitlist. It's an additional step you'll have to take after joining the waitlist, one that requires the use of a small Microsoft app to convert your PC to a nonstop Bing party.

Google is ending a controversial practice in Europe where it requires smartphone makers seeking to pre-install Google's app store to also add other Google apps, such as search and Chrome. Instead, Google will allow device manufacturers to pre-install the Google Play Store on a stand-alone basis, and offer the option to pre-install Google's other proprietary apps for an extra, unspecified fee. The company's announcement Tuesday came ahead of an Oct. 29 deadline to comply with a European Union antitrust decision, which saw regulators slap the company with a $5 billion fine for bundling its apps in an allegedly anticompetitive manner. Google is fighting the order but is working to meet its terms, because not doing so by the deadline could risk further penalties. In making their decision, antitrust officials in Europe had said that Google's practice of tying the apps together could harm competition by giving Google a built-in advantage over new apps struggling to attract an audience.

One of the great horrors of Windows 10 is that Microsoft forces you to use Bing and Microsoft Edge with Cortana. When you search with Cortana, any web searches are automatically sent to Bing and displayed in the Edge browser, no matter what your default browser is. Before April 2016 you could use any browser you wanted, although Cortana still insisted on Bing for search. But then Microsoft put a stop to browser choice, and Cortana-loving Edge haters have been recoiling ever since, until now. Norway-based developer Daniel Aleksandersen recently created a program called EdgeDeflector that puts a stop to Cortana's shenanigans.