Microsoft to release search product before Longhorn ships
WinNetMag | at | by Mike
Integrated desktop and Internet search engines might be one of Longhorn's key features but Microsoft is apparently preparing a standalone search tool that will debut well before Longhorn does. The company is hatching the plans for this standalone search product, called MSN Search, through its MSN division; the product will incorporate email, database, file-system, and Internet searching. "As far as the consumer is concerned, [MSN Search will] be an end-to-end system for searching across any data type," Microsoft Corporate Vice President Yusuf Mehdi said during a speech at the Goldman Sachs Fifth Annual Internet Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week. "I think it's fair to say that we will tackle all of the things that you expect, including PC search, as part of the MSN effort." A beta version is expected this summer, and the final release will ship next year, Mehdi said.