Just weeks before Mozilla's lucrative contract with Google comes up for renewal, the open-source developer launched a customized version of Firefox that uses rival Microsoft's Bing search engine.

Microsoft also touted the new Firefox, saying that it had teamed with Mozilla because users "told us to make it even easier to use Bing in Firefox."

Dubbed "Firefox with Bing," the custom version uses Bing as the default search engine in both the search box and in the browser's "Awesome Bar," the dual-use address bar where users can also enter search queries. Firefox with Bing also sets the Bing.com as the browser's home page.

Microsoft registered the "firefoxwithbing.com" domain just last week, and said it was "neither licensing nor distributing Firefox."

Firefox with Bing is based on Firefox 7.01, the most up-to-date stable edition.

Firefox with Bing can be downloaded from Microsoft's site, which in turn redirects to Mozilla's download servers.

Full story: Computerworld