Like many other webmasters I have seen the insatiable appetite of MSNbot. It has been very busy over the last few weeks, spidering everything in sight. We know that MS has been working on a search engine for over a year and after a couple of "previews", we seem to be getting close. Reports state that MSN will be releasing a "beta release" of the their search engine tomorrow (Nov 11, 2204). I don't know how they will be integrating it with the portal and what percentage of searches will be handled by it, but it certainly seems like a new series of search engine wars are about to start.

Beta Version Of Microsoft Search Goes Out Thursday
http://informationweek.com/story/sho...cleID=52600569

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Yes, the rumour is spreading all over the place - I hope it's true cause I can't wait to see what the results are. They better be good cause they're pulling a whole load of my pages like it's free or something.

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J de Silva
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NINEMSN is going to release a live beta of Microsoft's much vaunted new search engine, with an initial release of its rival to Google's desktop search due to appear in the first quarter of next year. For more details check out:
http://australianit.news.com.au/arti...nbv%5e,00.html
What do you guys think about it?

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• I don't like MS, so I wouldn't use this.
• I don't trust MS and suspect that there's hidden "features" people wouldn't like.
• People complain about Google's desktop and what it sends back to Google. I think anything MS makes is much, much worse.
• I don't mind companies advertising their products, but the tie-in's this will have are disgusting.
• When using any of these things, will MS be storing these searches or scanning your computer looking for bootleg software? Just how much Big Brother are we talking?
• Will they censor searches (porn, warez, anti-MS sites, etc.)?
• Google has in their mission statement, "Do no evil", or something like that. We all know MS doesn't. What's the catch?
• What are the security flaws that will be created by using the search or having the desktop? (Especially the desktop).
• Lastly, why bother? Apart from wanting to own the world, there are so many search engines out there that this seems, to me, to be a waste of $$.

I've said it elsewhere, but if they took all the money they blow on stupid spin-offs and trying to make it in new markets and worked at making Windows and Office better (fewer bugs, better security, features people wanted), I feel people would have better feelings toward them. I may not like them still, but at least I would have more respect for them; they would trying to ensure the best software they can make rather than trying to embrace and extend into non-related markets.

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Common Sense v2.0-Striving to make the world a little bit smarter.

I am not sure if I understand you Cody - do you think this is a good thing then? (don't hold back brother!)

I think that people that are really into computers feel similar to the way you do. (and me). However, the general populace just want to find a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They don't really care (or know) what they are using to find it. It is the same thing with the web browsers. Most people don't care if they are using Firefox or IE, they just want to click a button and be on the web.

So, I think microsoft will be very sucessful with this. They are counting on general user apathy. They are not catering to the dsmiths and crystalattices of the world. They know that we are not going to be using this service.

Yes, I find this slightly disturbing. I think this is what most people have against Microsoft. Computers should be about choice. If you choose to use Microsoft Search, i don't have a problem with that. But Microsoft picks up a huge market share by just packaging a browser with the OS, that just happens to have a Microsoft Search bar. How convenient!

The most worrisome and ethically wrong thing to me is that I have heard rumours that Microsoft is actually crawling Google! That bothers me.

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I think this is a good thing. In recent years, google has come to dominate the search engine industry. I think it is healthy to introduce competition.

Hey dasp, I appreciate your opinion. And I do think that healthy competition is a good thing. It is rare that you hear this term used in conjuction with Microsoft though.

While I jest to some extent. Think about the whole Wordperfect/Word thing and the whole Netscape/IE thing. In either case did MS come out on top of these battles because they were first to the market? Because they had astonishingly better products?

The answer to both is no. They won both of these battles because they happen to dominate the O/S market.

Also, never in my time using Google have I found a slant or twist or any hiding of things on google. Go type "Google sucks" at google. I got almost 1,000,000 hits.

I am pro-choice. Don't use google if you don't like it. Don't use firefox or linux or wordperfect if it is not the best tool for the job just to stick it to Microsoft. That is stupid. But to be tied into the single O/S, browser, search engine, word processor, etc. just because it is there is also silly.

My opinion only...

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The best damn Sports Blog period.

Yes, Micro$oft and pro-competition seem like oxymorons, but in this case I believe its a good thing.

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Don't get me wrong; competition is always good. Look at how MS is changing it's ways now that Linux is a threat. I just don't think what they offer is a good thing. But, on the absurd assumption that they don't corner the market via lock-in, the best choice will be made by the people. Just like Firefox!

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Common Sense v2.0-Striving to make the world a little bit smarter.

Maybe I spoke too soon...

Microsoft's new search engine not ready yet

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