Two MSN search tools have been updated for enterprise use. Windows Desktop Search, which helps users find files on their desktop PCs, is based on MSN Desktop Search but adds support for management technologies used by enterprises, such as Group Policy and Systems Management Server (SMS). MSN has also released an enterprise-ready version of its Search Toolbar, which includes Desktop Search and other features such as pop-up blocking. However, customers will still need separate products to conduct intranet searches, and it's unclear how these search tools will fit into the company's larger enterprise-search strategy.

Desktop Search

Windows Desktop Search (WDS) is very similar to MSN Desktop Search. Like that tool, WDS creates a local index of information on a user's hard drive, including the full text of Office documents, the full text of all items in Outlook or Outlook Express (including e-mail messages, calendar entries, and tasks), and any available metadata about files (such as author and date created or, in the case of a music file, the artist and album name). Third-party file formats, such as Adobe PDF files, can be indexed through free, downloadable add-ons known as iFilters. Data is indexed in the background, which minimizes its effect on the PC's performance. Once information is indexed, users can retrieve it by entering keywords in a small search box in the Windows Deskbar. (MSN Desktop Search is covered in "MSN Launches Search Tools" on page 22 of the Jan. 2005 Update.)

While MSN Desktop Search was intended exclusively for consumers, WDS adds the following features for enterprise customers:

• Support for deployment via SMS and third-party deployment tools. (To deploy it via Group Policy, organizations must create a deployment wrapper such as a Windows Installer package)
• Customization of features and user interface via Group Policy
• Integration of existing intranet search tools (such as SharePoint Portal Server) into the WDS interface so that users can search other resources from the same search pane.

Full Toolbar Also Updated

Before WDS, Microsoft's desktop search tool was available only as part of a more comprehensive product called the MSN Search Toolbar, which was released in Dec. 2004. This Toolbar not only adds a local search pane to the Windows desktop but also to Internet Explorer (IE), from which users can search local files or the Web, and to Outlook, from which users can search e-mail or all local files. The Toolbar also adds other features to IE, such as tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, and automatic form-filling, and add-ins for it are available, such as an anti-phishing filter that alerts users of suspicious Web sites.

At the same time as releasing WDS, Microsoft also updated the full MSN Search Toolbar for enterprise use, adding support for Group Policy and SMS.

So, if organizations want to distribute these additional features to users, they should download and deploy the new version of the MSN Search Toolbar. If they only want to distribute desktop search, they should download and deploy WDS.

Enterprise Search Roadmap Murky

With WDS, Microsoft has taken a useful tool for end users and made it more palatable to IT departments—for example, while the original MSN tool allows users to index the content of shared network drives, WDS lets administrators turn this function off via Group Policy to prevent users from overburdening the network with index updates. However, Microsoft still has no product comparable to the integrated enterprise search solutions from companies such as Autonomy and Fast Search and Transfer (FAST). Instead, Microsoft now offers WDS for desktop search and a separate product, SharePoint Portal Server, for searching networked files.

In addition, Microsoft has not provided a clear enterprise search roadmap. For example, it's unknown whether the built-in search feature in Windows Vista will eliminate the need for WDS, and the next versions of Office and SharePoint Portal Server may also have new search functionality that overlaps with WDS. Until Microsoft clarifies its enterprise search strategy, enterprises should consider WDS as a useful stopgap measure for enabling local search—but not necessarily the first step toward an integrated enterprise search solution from Microsoft.

Resources

The home page for Windows Desktop Search is at www.microsoft.com/windows/desktopsearch.

The home page for the enterprise version of the MSN Search Toolbar is www.microsoft.com/windows/desktopsearch/enterprise/toolbar/default.mspx.

Add-ins for the MSN Search Toolbar are available at addins.msn.com/addins_category_toolbar.aspx.

Download iFilters at addins.msn.com/addins_category_desktop.aspx.

More information about iFilters can be found at channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/Channel9.DesktopSearchIFilters.