Why would I possibly want to use MSN Search for finding things?
They know they're not the best at this. I'm offended at even
being given the option, let alone having it default to
true.
And am I likely to want MSN as my home page? Sure it's
possible, but likely? Are they deliberately
trying to ruin my online experience? Is this why people say that
microsoft want to kill the web?
This is identical to the problem old Jakky N. wrote about, five
years ago, in an article on Mailing List
Usability:
Getting Subscribers
Users must
opt-in before getting your email
newsletter. Many sites try to do so by having a user registration form
that contains a little box for "I want to receive valuable marketing
promotions" that is checked by default. This is
not good.
Sure, some users will overlook the box and will not uncheck it. That
does not mean that they will welcome your newsletter. On the contrary,
they will detest your company for sending them spam. Even worse, those
users who do notice the little box will lose trust in your
site because they will feel that the site is trying to trick
them.
Much better to leave the box unchecked and only
collect those users who are eager to get your material.
I'll check back in another five years and see if MSN get
it yet.
secretGeek.net
While I'm complaining about usability...
. If you click on it, it lights up, like this: 
. This system of flagging is more intuitive, less distracting and far more economical.
