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

It's Free

[eno2001]

I noticed in the article that this new search software is being offered for free. That's quite a dangerous precedent to set seeing how people react to "free" things. For instance, think about the free iPod and free Mac Mini and free PSP offers that have been flooding the internet. You know how there are all those people who are more than willing to add links to their SIGs on various online forums just to get something "free"? Putting aside all the possible connotations of the word "free" (as in beer vs. speech), think about the power of that word. With the free iPod and other offers, spammers managed to "zombie" a bunch of humans into service.

Microsoft even did this in the past with IE when Netscape was king of the intarweb. Netscape charged for their browser and MS put theirs out at no charge (ie. free!). It's worked for them before and they know the power that using the word free can give them. Really think about this... If, otherwise normally intelligent people, can be turned into web spam zombies by being offered the possibility of free Mac Minis and iPods... And businesses can be taken down by offering a free alternative that is already included with a computer by default... Then the offer of a free personal search tool that is also included with a computer by default is likely to make people do crazy things.

Don't even get started on the free software movement. Think about the insanity that pervades that world. People are actually willing to work for FREE because they are abel to get software for FREE!!! It's totally insane. Then people like Stallman take hold of the power of FREE and they use it to further their cause! Can you believe it? If this whole "free" thing had never been invented/discovered, our world would be safer today. We wouldn't have to worry about people who "hate our freedoms" because there wouldn't be any such concept (free, that is). Let's stop this cancer of "free" this and "free" that and call it out for what it really is. Dangerous.

BTW, has anyone noticed how heavily the editors have been trolling the Slashdot readers lately? I mean, seriously... Microsoft buying Redhat? That's like saying that the Republican party is going to allow Kerry a position in the Senate! Who ever heard of such a thing!