More Microsoft Search Strategy

Last week, I chatted with a reporter about some of Microsoft’s search goals. Jupiter Research believes that around the time Windows Longhorn ships, Microsoft will try to make search seamless across the desktop, local network and the Internet (See the the Jupiter Research report, "MSN Search: Microsoft Guns for Google, the Desktop and the Enterprise"). The reporter wanted to know why that goal is such a big deal.

The PC is quickly evolving beyond typical word processing and basic business functions into a very sophisticated entertainment machine. Certainly, the PC has been a popular gaming platform for some time. But now, as consumer and business interest in digital media increases, the PC’s role is changing. For example, according to a recent Jupiter Research survey, 28 percent of online consumers said that they edited photos on a PC at least once a month. The percentage was higher than for those people playing a console game or burning a music CD. How would the average consumer find and manage all that digital content in a meaningful way?

As consumers and businesses generate more, different types of content, new tools will be needed for finding and managing all that information. Microsoft wants to improve search, in part, by introducing the new Windows File System (WinFS).

Consumer scenario: Digital camera software typically assigns images arcane file names such as DC14001, which won’t make finding those favorite vacation pictures easy to find. If Microsoft’s search and file system changes coalesce, then a Longhorn query for "trip to Disneyland" would bring up digital images and videos, e-mail or plane reservations.

Business scenario: During his keynote address for the April Windows Server 2003 launch, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer touted the more than 12,000 team sites company employees had created using Windows SharePoint Services. SharePoint lets business employees create shared workspaces for collaborating on projects. But SharePoint also generates a large amount of data, necessitating smarter search capabilities.

Still, Microsoft will have much work ahead to achieve its lofty, search goals--and some rivals are delivering excellent functionality today. Apple, for one, has done an excellent job refining searches in Mac OS X 10.2. Each folder view offers a search box in the upper right-hand corner, which changes the search contents as the user types the query. The search motif also is consistent across Apple applications, such as Address Book or Mail.

Apple also has integrated the search capabilities into ancillary services. From Apple’s digital music application, consumers can fairly quickly search the iTunes Music Store. The music store search function works the same as desktop search--and it’s remarkably fast.

Posted by Joe Wilcox at August 11, 2003 11:51 AM