Yahoo to get into the Desktop Search Game

[Brett_Tabke]

[pcworld.com...]

Yahoo hopes to leapfrog Microsoft by releasing a tool that allows users to quickly and easily search for information on their PCs as well as in their personal files stored at Yahoo's online services, a source familiar with the plan says.

[christopher w]

Wow Brett - just posted this at exactly the same time. As I said in my post - looks to be a really nice move by Y!

[zeus]

Hmm ok that is good news, then Microsoft will not take over the SE world in a few days and people who are not listed right on the New MSN, still have a chance with there business.

zeus

[enotalone]

i hope they will not be banning or puting penalties on desktops too as they do with sites!

should we use webmasterworldfeedback address to contact yahoo in case our PCs get banned?

[GrendelKhan TSU]

I wonder if they will be using X1 for the basis or "test" for that. x1.com (Desktop search software--been out for quite sometime now).

Notice: x1 is an Ideal Lab funded company (ie: Bill Gross--who funded/founded Overture.)

[edited by: DaveAtIFG at 12:08 pm (utc) on Aug. 6, 2004]

[StupidScript]

(Sorry GrendelKhan TSU) IdeaLab snipped is an "incubator" where small startups receive funding and workspace until their ideas/products are ready for broader market...then they get kicked out of the nest and fly on their own. EToys, Evolution Robotics, CarsDirect, etc...

(Just filling in the gap... ) :)

[edited by: DaveAtIFG at 9:09 pm (utc) on Aug. 6, 2004]
[edit reason] Specifics removed [/edit]

[StupidScript]

And, IMHO, the winner will be: the company that looks beyond the MS platform to include other mailers and OSs, like Mac and Linux boxes and mailers that use IMAP or mail server files (with appropriate permissions) like those prepared by Sendmail, QMail, etc.

After all, MS ain't the only game in town anymore...just ask Hewlett-Packard and Sony.

[alain_bonaf]

There is no way I will let Big Brother One and Big Brother Two access my LOCAL FILES :).

[cleanup]

Wow! sounds exiting.. has anyone here had problems finding files on their own PC?

Please, help me here I am at a loss.

What will this mean for my future PC organisation?

Seriously?

[sun818]

The idea is not new - Alta Vista developed an application called Discovery over five years ago. It indexes files on your desktop computer for quick searching. Copernic has an Enterprise Search running off of IIS. SearchWithin also has a Desktop Search running off Apache Lucene software.

I hope one of the major players can release one that fetches relevant results using a simple interface.

[bguillaume]

I would love to be able to search in my emails, contacts, Calendar, Briefcase, Photo bookmark from the yahoo Companion tool
They already provide a search in the address book
Now yahoo been able to search on percsonal computer...that'd be a huge step in the software development for them

[StupidScript]

But
(a) When you want to search for something you think might be on your hard drive, do you really want also to execute a WWW search? and
(b) Will it work with a variety of email programs, or just MS email programs?

The governments of Brazil, China, and many others are currently migrating to Linux to reduce licensing and maintenance costs. If everyone makes an MS-only desktop search tool...how do you think that will affect the perpetuation of the MS near-monopoly and how much more difficult will it be to wean away from their current hegemony?

(BTW: I use V - The File Viewer, a shareware app that does a fantastic job of searching any kind of file, including binary files and mailboxes, on my hard drive. [fileviewer.com....] If there is text to find, it will find it. I use Mozilla Firefox web browser with all of the major engines included in its search function, so I can search globally without being limited to one particular engine. These seem like more complete solutions than any one provided by a MS or a Yahoo, where their motivation is to limit us to their affiliates and the ensuing advertising.)

[Mr_N]

"Wow! sounds exiting.. has anyone here had problems finding files on their own PC?

Please, help me here I am at a loss.

What will this mean for my future PC organisation?

Seriously?"

I think the only people who would find it are those that aren't particularly adept with a PC in the first place. The sort who don't know how to partition and end up with a monstrous C:\ with a mish-mash of folders all over the place and no rhyme or reason as to where they place their files. Sometimes when sifting through the HDDs on my friends' PCs I'm about ready to have a nervous breakdown trying to make sense of where they keep their stuff. >_<