News

Microsoft Plans New Search Products

Windows Live Search, competitor to Google Search, offered as a free download.

(Seattle) Microsoft Corp. plans software to help workers simultaneously find information on their computer desktop, the Internet and corporate network, the latest effort to counter competitors such as search engine leader Google Inc.

The free download, to be announced Wednesday and released in test form later this summer, also is designed to help manage information overload.

It will be called Windows Live Search, said Kirk Koenigsbauer, a general manager in Microsoft's information worker division. That's the same name of Microsoft's new Internet-only search product, also in test form, but Koenigsbauer said there are no plans to combine the two.

This product will be an add-on to Microsoft's current product for scouring the PC desktop, available now as a free download and slated to be included in Windows Vista. The ability to search corporate networks will be available only to those who use Microsoft's SharePoint server software, which is designed to help companies find and share information.

For about a year, Google has offered a similar free download, which can be used with Google's own search technology for businesses, as well as those from a few other companies. Matthew Glotzbach, head of products for Google enterprise, said he had expected Microsoft to follow with its own offering.

Microsoft also plans to announce Wednesday that it will offer a scaled-down version of SharePoint for corporate search. It will be available this fall, when Microsoft releases a slew of new Office products and server software to businesses. Consumer versions of Office and Windows are due out early next year.

The announcements will come during Microsoft's 10th CEO Summit, an annual gathering of corporate leaders at Microsoft's Redmond campus. This year, the networking event will include bigwigs from Motorola Inc. and Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., among others.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is expected to kick off the summit by talking about the problems companies will face in the coming decade --including the difficulty of finding and using the ever-expanding mountains of electronic data.

Featured

  • Microsoft Appoints Althoff as New CEO for Commercial Business

    Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the promotion of Judson Althoff to CEO of the company's commercial business, presenting the move as a response to the dramatic industrywide shifts caused by AI.

  • Broadcom Revamps VMware Partner Program Again

    Broadcom recently announced a significant update regarding its VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program, coinciding with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a key component in Broadcom’s private cloud strategy.

  • Closeup of the new Copilot keyboard key

    Microsoft Updates Copilot To Add Context-Sensitive Agents to Teams, SharePoint

    Microsoft has rolled out a new public preview for collaborative "always on" agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing enhanced, context-aware tools into Teams channels, meetings, SharePoint sites, Planner workstreams and Viva Engage communities.

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.