As the final negotiations continue between Microsoft and government lawyers over a joint status report due out today, a Reuters story quotes an unnamed source "familiar with the case" saying that Microsoft agreed to change Vista in response to a complaint from Google.

The source in the Reuters report did not elaborate on what changes would be made. Google has complained to the Department of Justice that a built-in desktop search feature in Vista competes unfairly with its desktop search product and violates the terms of Microsoft's 2001 antitrust settlement with the government.

Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans said the company had no comment on the anonymous report, adding that it does not intend to comment ahead of the official release of the joint status report.

Check out this story for more background on the issue.

Update: Another report citing an anonymous source, this one from The Associated Press, says Microsoft will make changes in Vista to address the Google complaint and will implement them as part of a service pack due by the end of the year.

Until now, Microsoft has refused to discuss the timing of a first service pack for Vista. It's a milestone that many business customers are waiting for to deploy the operating system.

Second update: To read about the changes, and see a copy of the joint status report released tonight, see
our story here.