Microsoft and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) have reached a deal to change the way Vista desktop search software runs. 

Citing an anonymous source "familiar with the case", Reuters said that Microsoft would announce the deal late on 19 June.

No announcement has yet been made, and a Microsoft spokesperson did not return a request for comment.

The reported deal stems from a Google filing with the DoJ claiming that the desktop search feature in Vista makes it difficult for users to install the competing Google Desktop. 

The result, according to Google, is that Microsoft's desktop search software has a built-in competitive advantage.

By locking other vendors out of desktop search, Google claimed that Microsoft is in violation of a 2004 anti-trust settlement in which the company agreed not to leverage the Windows operating system to push any of its other software.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer referred to the accusations as " baseless", and maintained that the company is in full compliance with the settlement.

At least one DoJ official sided with Ballmer, reportedly sending a memo urging state attorneys general not to pursue Google's complaint.