aweirdguy
05-28-2004, 01:28 AM
Microsoft Corp. will soon release technology that takes search functions far beyond the Internet, allowing users to pore through e-mail, personal computers and even big databases to find the information they want, a top executive said yesterday.
The system being developed by Microsoft's MSN online division "will, as far as the consumer is concerned, be an end-to-end system for searching across any data type," Yusuf Mehdi, head of Microsoft's MSN division, told analysts at a Goldman Sachs Internet conference in Las Vegas yesterday. The speech was broadcast over the Internet.
The new technology would be a huge step forward for users trying to grapple with an increasing amount of digital information, offering a one-step system instead of having to use several different search engines, file management systems or other tools.
Microsoft's Windows operating system, which is on 90 percent of personal computers, provides tools for file management on PCs. But Mehdi said there really isn't a quick system for searching.
"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," Mehdi said.
He said Microsoft plans to release an early version of the technology soon, as part of the software company's push to compete with Internet search leader Google Inc. A final version is expected in the next 12 months, he said.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has previously conceded that one of the company's big missteps was that it didn't originally invest in building its own Internet search technology, relying instead on an outside company to provide MSN search results.
But as Google, Yahoo! and other Internet search options have exploded in popularity, Microsoft has turned massive resources toward building its own technology. The effort extends across many of Microsoft's business units, but the most high-profile moves are in its MSN division.
source (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/175135_msftsearch27.html)
The system being developed by Microsoft's MSN online division "will, as far as the consumer is concerned, be an end-to-end system for searching across any data type," Yusuf Mehdi, head of Microsoft's MSN division, told analysts at a Goldman Sachs Internet conference in Las Vegas yesterday. The speech was broadcast over the Internet.
The new technology would be a huge step forward for users trying to grapple with an increasing amount of digital information, offering a one-step system instead of having to use several different search engines, file management systems or other tools.
Microsoft's Windows operating system, which is on 90 percent of personal computers, provides tools for file management on PCs. But Mehdi said there really isn't a quick system for searching.
"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," Mehdi said.
He said Microsoft plans to release an early version of the technology soon, as part of the software company's push to compete with Internet search leader Google Inc. A final version is expected in the next 12 months, he said.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has previously conceded that one of the company's big missteps was that it didn't originally invest in building its own Internet search technology, relying instead on an outside company to provide MSN search results.
But as Google, Yahoo! and other Internet search options have exploded in popularity, Microsoft has turned massive resources toward building its own technology. The effort extends across many of Microsoft's business units, but the most high-profile moves are in its MSN division.
source (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/175135_msftsearch27.html)