MSN Releases Desktop Search
After five months in beta, Microsoft's MSN has released the final version of its desktop search application, which is said to incorporate many new features based on extensive user feedback.
I first came across this great searching tool at the Chicago Search Engine Strategies conference back in mid December. Since then I see that MSN has significantly beefed up the degree of control you have over desktop search, both in the initial set up process and in the desktop search options. Among these improvements is the ability to specify which items should be indexed. Users can use a simple dialog box to select "emails" and "all hard disks," "email" and the contents of the "My Documents" folder, or select specific files and locations to be indexed using an explorer-like panel.
Other Advanced indexing options have been added which allow users to option of specifying file types to be indexed as text, and list a set of file types that should not be indexed. With both of these options, the program comes preconfigured with a number of appropriate file types. MSN Desktop Search is said to have the ability to index more than 200 file types, but users will also be able to add filters to index additional file types.Overall, I feel that the final release of the MSN Toolbar Suite is a significant improvement over the beta versions I first played around with. The product remains heavily Microsoft-centered, however, and is best suited to those who are regular users of Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer.
Download MSN Toolbar and Desktop Search Suite
I first came across this great searching tool at the Chicago Search Engine Strategies conference back in mid December. Since then I see that MSN has significantly beefed up the degree of control you have over desktop search, both in the initial set up process and in the desktop search options. Among these improvements is the ability to specify which items should be indexed. Users can use a simple dialog box to select "emails" and "all hard disks," "email" and the contents of the "My Documents" folder, or select specific files and locations to be indexed using an explorer-like panel.
Other Advanced indexing options have been added which allow users to option of specifying file types to be indexed as text, and list a set of file types that should not be indexed. With both of these options, the program comes preconfigured with a number of appropriate file types. MSN Desktop Search is said to have the ability to index more than 200 file types, but users will also be able to add filters to index additional file types.Overall, I feel that the final release of the MSN Toolbar Suite is a significant improvement over the beta versions I first played around with. The product remains heavily Microsoft-centered, however, and is best suited to those who are regular users of Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer.
Download MSN Toolbar and Desktop Search Suite
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posted by Karl Ribas Friday, June 03, 2005 Read Comments (0) | Post a Comment | Subscribe  
 
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