Over at LiveSide. From an excerpt of a memo sent to them:
Goodbye MSN Search, Hello Windows Live Search!
The beta, or pre-release, testing of Windows Live Search is nearly over so if you’ve used it or sent us feedback we salute you – don’t worry no group hugs or anything, just a genuine thanks from the team.
The new Windows Live Search allows for far more customisation, control and accuracy than ever before and is now a lean mean searching machine with many new features such as the ability to determine how much information you want displayed on your query results and the new in-site search.
Just when you start thinking “maybe MS will FINALLY catch up”, I go to use some advanced features with LIVE search and get all kinds of errors with MS’s ability to verify it’s own certificates. Silly MS! Still, the LIVE project has the feel of Yahoo and Google development. If they can break the constraints of normal MS corporate nonsense LIVE could become a real player.
I can’t think of too many places where Microsoft isn’t either the #1 or #2 player. In fact, other than the present search share, I can’t think of ANY. I don’t see this affecting Google, but I could definitely see this affecting Ask and potentially Yahoo.
I think you are right about this. But it will be interesting watching MS catch up and even more interesting observing yahoo or ask fight back. What a great show coming up!
I do not check in deep the new features, but even with errors that are common to all Beta Releases, I see the features more integrated than in Yahoo and of course than in Google.
I hope that this time Microsoft “will FINALLY catch up”, because I see how the “invisible Web” is growing too fast, because the lack of competition with the first player.
Jeremy – the online space is where it’s all going, and I’m pretty sure MS is not even cash positive here, much to their peril.
Paco – good point about the invisible web. I expect some interesting things from MS very soon…but I thought that last year too and despite some LIVE project intrigue they’ve still a LONG way to go to compete.
MSN Ends in a FEW HOURS
today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2006-09-12T015406Z_01_N11239398_RTRUKOC_0_US-MICROSOFT-SEARCH.xml
Windows Live Search will replace MSN Search, Microsoft’s current search engine, in 47 markets worldwide and 23 languages after being available for months in a test version.