# Why does Firefox load microsoft.com with this URL? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940 "2005-03-23T20:57:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/1 "2005-03-23T20:57:51Z")
Firefox users, try this: open Firefox, create a new tab, and enter “http” as the URL. Hit enter, wait a few seconds, and watch as [microsoft.com](http://microsoft.com) loads. Anyone know why this happens? I’ve tested it with Firefox on both a Mac and a PC, and both of them do it. Internet Explorer doesn’t, nor does Opera. At first I thought that it was simply trying [http.com](http://http.com), [http.net](http://http.net), [http.org](http://http.org), or something like that, and being redirected, but none of those domains resolve to [microsoft.com](http://microsoft.com). ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/2 "2005-03-23T21:02:47Z")
Ah hah, figured it out. [Microsoft.com](http://Microsoft.com) is the first result returned by a Google search for “http”. Firefox apparently does a Google search for URLs it doesn’t understand, and loads the first result. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/3 "2005-03-23T21:05:04Z")
A simple answer for a strange problem: > [@](#): > > Interesting bit: when you just enter “http” into the Firefox adress bar and press enter, it will take you to the Microsoft homepage. This might sound like fodder for conspiracy theories, but what actually happens? The answer is simple: if you do not use a full URL, Firefox will start its default search function. And searching Google for “http” has [Microsoft.com](http://Microsoft.com) as first result (Google heavily weighs in link text into their ranking calculation, and many people use “[http://www.microsoft.com](http://www.microsoft.com)” as link text). ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/4 "2005-03-23T21:06:45Z")
For some more odd firefox behavoir try entering “about:mozilla” into your address bar. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/5 "2005-03-23T21:08:22Z")
Oh for the love of an edit button, in the above post ignore the “\_”, not sure why it was put in there. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/6 "2005-03-24T01:34:44Z")
> [@mittu](#): > > Oh for the love of an edit button, in the above post ignore the “\_”, not sure why it was put in there. An edit button wouldn’t help. This forum always does that, and I have no idea why. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/7 "2005-03-24T03:12:40Z")
If you don’t have Firefox, but you’re curious, “about:mozilla” turns up a dark red background with white text, saying: > [@](#): > > \*And so at last the beast **fell** and the unbelievers rejoiced. But all was not lost, for from the ash rose a **great bird**. The bird gazed down upon the unbelievers and cast **fire** and **thunder** upon them. For the beast had been **reborn** with its strength **renewed** , and the followers of **Mammon** cowered in horror. > > [RIGHT]from **The Book of Mozilla** , 7:15[/RIGHT]\* It looks like you could google for more information on the Book of Mozilla pretty easily, if you wanted to. P.S. Replace “:” with “:” to make it omit the “\_” ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/8 "2005-03-24T03:16:39Z")
That “Book of Mozilla” quote is an Easter egg. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/9 "2005-03-24T03:19:07Z")
How many versions ago was it that they were still calling it Phoenix? ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/10 "2005-03-24T03:31:48Z")
Erm. Replace “:” with “[\*size=2]:[/size]” but remove the asterisk. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/11 "2005-03-24T04:01:27Z")
This trick of Firefox is pretty convenient sometimes. If you enter a word or multiple words in the URL bar, Firefox will take you to the #1 Google result (like their “I’m Feeling Lucky” search). ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-firefox-load-microsoft-com-with-this-url/295940/12 "2005-03-24T05:49:03Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Firefox users, try this: open Firefox, create a new tab, and enter “http” as the URL. Hit enter, wait a few seconds, and watch as [microsoft.com](http://microsoft.com) loads. Same thing happens when you use Mozilla.