[KwasiOwusu]

Let the battle with Google commence.
This should be great fun.

[dfwgator]

I hope Microsoft's search site will be like Google used to be like...simple, without all the extra crap they've added on.

[Musket]

IMHO, they should get the local "All files and folders" search up to speed before they go dickin' around. But they won't 'cause they're MS.

[SengirV]

yawn. M$ is like the Democratic party - It simply turns off too many people that are required to pull off something like this.

[Space Wrangler]

I wonder why MS didn't just buy another search technology, then f*** it up like they do everything else? They must have wanted an especially crappy and unneccesarily invasive search engine bad enough that they are willing to build it from the ground up.

[montag813]

Microsoft is so last century

[HamiltonJay]

Microsoft has thrown down its guantlet for Search about 10 times now... and they always land with a unimpressive thud.

[An.American.Expatriate]

Hey Kwasi, what does this mean??

OS, Web Server and Hosting History for beta.search.msn.com
http://beta.search.msn.com was running AkamaiGHost on Linux when last queried at 28-Jan-2005 09:18:37 GMT - refresh now Site Report
Try out the Netcraft Toolbar! FAQ
OS Server Last changed IP address Netblock Owner
Linux AkamaiGHost 27-Jan-2005 212.23.32.21 Akamai
Linux AkamaiGHost 26-Jan-2005 193.45.1.118 Akamai
Linux AkamaiGHost 25-Jan-2005 192.91.244.230 CERN- European Organization for Nuclear Research
Linux AkamaiGHost 24-Jan-2005 213.248.112.109 Akamai
Linux AkamaiGHost 23-Jan-2005 212.23.32.21 Akamai
Linux AkamaiGHost 22-Jan-2005 212.23.32.13 Akamai
Linux AkamaiGHost 21-Jan-2005 192.91.244.229 CERN- European Organization for Nuclear Research
Linux AkamaiGHost 20-Jan-2005 212.23.37.8 Akamai
Linux AkamaiGHost 19-Jan-2005 212.23.32.21 Akamai
Linux AkamaiGHost 18-Jan-2005 212.187.244.56 Akamai

No uptime is currently available for beta.search.msn.com.

[Constantine XIII]

That'll fly...like an anvil.

[Banjoguy]

I just can't equate "googling" with "msn-ing"-something just doesn't sound right...besides which nothing could cause me to cooperate with the efforts of MS to drive another competitor into the ground.

[Capitalism2003]

"Free Republic" Search Results:

MSN
1-10 of 6,510,183 containing free republic (0.17 seconds)

Google
Results 1 - 10 of about 20,000,000 for free republic [definition]. (0.23 seconds)

Google wins.

[Smartaleck]

Fun...

I often look for sites located near me.

The search provides a "near me" button which the user can seed with a location to search in and around....pretty cool

[Richard Kimball]

Oh, man. I can't believe I agree with you. Don't tell anyone. Personally, after Google started pulling all their leftist crap like recognizing Ray Charles Birthday (nothing wrong with that, I thought it was great), but then ignoring Veterans Day, making the "I feel lucky" link for "moron" to a biography of George Bush, I'm ready to see the dark side known as Microsoft take them down at the ankles.

[Doohickey]

The problem with MSN search is the same problem Microsoft has had in many of its products...over-reliance on the mouse.

Now, with Google I can define my search terms, get a definition, search for results for a certain OS, etc. just by entering the correct syntax into the search box, or by going to the correct subpage.

MSN does most of the same things, but it requires too many mouse clicks. The URL is also too long.

[ShadowAce]

[Arthalion]

Meh, I noticed the new MSN yesterday. The search results do seem to have improved a bit, but they're still mired in the late 90's dotcom mentality that says every square inch of screen space needs to be covered by some kind of revenue generating clutter. On a dialup, it's still substantially slower to load than Google, it's interface is too busy, and to be entirely honest (speaking as a software usability specialist) the search almost seems like an afterthought on what is otherwise a news and content page.

Even though my desktops are all on a 45Mbit DS3, MSN wont be bumping Google as our desktops default start page anytime soon. If MS is serious about taking on Google for web searching, they need to FOCUS on searching and build their site around it. Getting the user to the information they seek should be the ONLY goal of the website...when I go to the web to search for a Java code snippet, or a parts distributor for my '69 Firebird, it's because I need to find those things, and those things only. The last thing I need is to be distracted by feel good articles about "Baby Blogs", gossip about some actresses latest fling, or annoying Flash animations.

If you talk to people who fled Yahoo, Altavista, and Lycos for Google so many years ago, you'll find that most switched because they liked Google's combination of accuracy and simplicity. While everyone else was piling on this feature and that, Google went simple, and because of that won the search wars. MS still hasn't learned their lesson, and is merely continuing on down the same path with a slightly modified backend.

They aren't competing with Google, they're competing with Yahoo.

[Zathras]

I suspect them to do something really stupid like bring up WORD everytime you do a search
or spell checker.

I'm not a MS basher but they do need a slap from time to time.

[streetpreacher]

Key to MSN's strategy to win over the Web population is providing "answers" to queries, rather than millions of links, Payne said.  ...MSN believes it can do one better with its encyclopedia software Encarta.

That's it?? I'm going to get encyclopedic descriptions from my search queries? I guess they missed that whole internet revolution thingey...

[Fledermaus]

I got paid my Microsoft (about $45 total) to install software that asked me questions after I did searches on Yahoo or Google or anywhere.

It was for some reasearch into this effort. But all it did was ask if the search was a good one with "No", "Yes" and "Maybe" as answers.

Anyone else do this?

[Psycho_Bunny]

I am soooooo f$%@ing sick of every computer related thread at FR becoming a M$ Sucks/Apple Sucks/Linux Sucks flame war.

Why don't you jackasses grow up.