I’ve definitely had this happen to me on Windows, more than once. I can’t remember what I searched exactly, but I typed it in and hit enter, assuming I’d get the installed app with whatever name I typed, but instead it opened the browser with some online search results. Very annoying.

I’m sure it can be turned off, and it probably isn’t as common as it’s portrayed online, but it does happen, and honestly… It should never happen. The start menu is not the place for generic Internet searching. Period.