Microsoft Finalizes Its Desktop Search Software

Smelly Toejam writes "After a five month testing phase, Microsoft has released a final version of its much hyped desktop-search software. Major updates cited include the ability to pick and choose which files to index, and how often." From the article: "Microsoft is vying for new credibility in the multibillion-dollar Web search market dominated by Google and Yahoo--and central to its campaign is the desktop. With its Longhorn launch slated for next year, Microsoft is developing enhanced search software that combines navigation for Web and desktop files straight from the operating system. The toolbar is a step toward that goal."

Comments

Re:How does it compare to Google's desktop search?

[Stibidor]

It's been a while since I tried Google's tool, so my memory of it is surely a bit foggy. The two differences I've noticed so far are:

1. Google runs in the web browser on a special port, MS runs in Explorer, Outlook as toolbars.
2. Maybe I haven't played around with it enough yet, but unfortunately, the MS tool doesn't seem to be capable of showing me where in the file it found my search term! It shows me a list of files it thinks are relevant, with lovely little stars indicating the level of relevance, but it doesn't show me where in the (potentially large) file, the term I searched for appears. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Ars review

[enjahova]

Arstechnica has a nice review of all the windows desktop search tools:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/desktop-search .ars

Of course it has the beta of the MS search, but a pretty good guide I think.

Re:Whoopee!

[Anonymous Coward]

The answer is yes... http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050 504012104186&query=spotlight