Microsoft might have an image of being fiercely competitive, but in their eagerness to catch the world's largest software company with it's hand in the cookie jar, the blogosphere has made an embarrassing mistake.

On Saturday an image started circulating on the internet that "proved" that Microsoft's anti-spyware was enticing users to uninstall Firefox, an open source competitor of Internet Explorer. The image was an hoax, but many bloggers and websites, including Slashdot didn't bother to check, putting all their faith in the JPG-image.

This is what happens if you let your anti-Microsoft religion stand in the way of old school fact checking.

Microsoft's anti-spyware software  did come under fire recently when it turned out that is  prevented users from setting the Dutch Startpagina.nl as their homepage, suggesting that users switch to MSN.nl instead. Startpagina.nl is the number one website in the Netherlands and a major competitor for MSN.nl. Microsoft has since apologized for the mistake and adjusted the software.