Microsoft has agreed to revise its Vista operating system as part of a compromise with federal and state regulators responsible for monitoring the 5-year-old antitrust decree, according to court papers filed Tuesday. The issue came to the attention of regulators after rival Google complained that Vista unfairly favors Microsoft to the disadvantage of competitors like Google.

Specifically, officials at Google charged that Microsoft made it difficult for users to turn off its desktop search and that Google's competing product ran too slowly when users selected it.

Microsoft denied the accusations, but said it would make some changes to Vista.

"This agreement, while not perfect, is a positive step toward greater competition in the software industry," California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department had come out in support of Microsoft, when Thomas O. Barnett, an assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division, sent a memo to several state attorneys general dismissing Google's claim. Several state attorneys general said they would proceed despite Barnett's warning.