Expect Microsoft Corp. to launch its own desktop search product by the end of the year as it more aggressively enters the search market, a company executive said here Wednesday. Christopher Payne, vice president of MSN Search, told attendees at the Search Engine Strategies conference that desktop search is one of Microsoft's top priorities as its MSN division moves forward with plans to launch its own algorithmic search engine technology.
"We'll be launching later this year the ability not only to search the Web but also to search the desktop," said Payne, during a panel of executives from the top Web search engines, except Google Inc. "For users it's disappointing to them that it's harder to get to an e-mail in Outlook or an Exchange store than to get a Web file." Payne offered few details about the desktop search product but said that technology from Microsoft's acquisition last month of desktop-search startup Lookout Software LLC will be integrated into the new offering.
News source: eWeek
