Microsoft's desktop search tool is finally out of beta. Has it improved enough to be real competition for Google and Yahoo's desktop search tools? And why has desktop search turned into a battleground anyway?
Google may have been the first search engine company to launch a desktop search tool, but the others were not very far behind. Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves, and even Microsoft climbed aboard the bandwagon. The irony of Microsoft creating a downloadable desktop search tool was rich, since one of the reasons these other tools have been catching on is because the search tool included with Microsoft’s operating system leaves many users dissatisfied.
Now, after several months in beta, Microsoft finally upgraded its desktop search. The free download is available from http://desktop.msn.com/. Microsoft changed the name of the software, from MSN’s Toolbar Suite to the wordier MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search. The upgrade addresses some of the criticisms of the beta made by analysts and observers, and ignores others.
For example, one reviewer of the beta program complained that it lacked a preview window. Apparently he wasn’t the only one annoyed by this, because Microsoft added the ability to preview documents to this release. This should make it easier for a user to find exactly the document they want, so long as previewing the document is quicker than clicking on the file to check the whole thing.
Not surprisingly, one area of criticism that Microsoft ignored was interoperability. Going to the URL mentioned above, it clearly states that the software “Requires Microsoft Windows XP/Server 2003/2000 & Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or later.” If you are using Apple’s OS X or, heaven forbid, Linux, you are out of luck. (Well, not entirely; Apple recently released Tiger, an operating system with a reportedly excellent search function called Spotlight).
Not only does the software not work with different operating systems; it does not work with different browsers. While it’s true that most people using a Microsoft operating system have the IE Web browser, it is a shame that the software giant is ignoring the small but growing number of people who prefer to use alternative browsers. Opera fans are left singing the blues, and Firefox users are stopped in their tracks if they want this free software to work with their preferred browser.
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