Microsoft can't do search, LIVE or otherwise

There are so many other tools that search effectively, such as X1 or the free "Agent Ransack". Search in Windows has been absolute crap since XP debuted, and it is only marginally better. Worse, the newest "Windows Desktop Search 4" stores the indexes in the "All Users" folder where Encrypting File System cannot be used. Note that X1 has allowed search indexes to be stored for EACH USER. So you can use EFS to protect a user's index.

Really, Microsoft WANTS to be a big search company, but I suggest they begin by searching for a clue!!

Re: Broken Search in Windows Server 2008

I know that Live Search is wretched... I use it on a daily basis. It's a personal decision, and I have my reasons for using it, but it really isn't great. But the reasons why Live Search is not good is completely different from why their desktop search isn't good. On this note, their search division just got reorged this week, and I am not surprised. Their market share keeps plummeting. I actually think that their search is no worse than Google's or Yahoo!'s search; I think that all three provide equally bad results. But Google has a much better overall package than Live Search, and that counts for a lot.

J.Ja

Microsoft can't do search, LIVE or otherwise

There are so many other tools that search effectively, such as X1 or the free "Agent Ransack". Search in Windows has been absolute crap since XP debuted, and it is only marginally better. Worse, the newest "Windows Desktop Search 4" stores the indexes in the "All Users" folder where Encrypting File System cannot be used. Note that X1 has allowed search indexes to be stored for EACH USER. So you can use EFS to protect a user's index.

Really, Microsoft WANTS to be a big search company, but I suggest they begin by searching for a clue!!

Re: Broken Search in Windows Server 2008

The reasons are completely different, I'll grant you. But the end result is that both products are BAD. Poor in concept, poor in design, poor in execution. I've been a fan of X1 for years, but my search needs are probably more modest than yours, so I may not know a great search tool when I see it. But I sure know a BAD one when I see it!

To bastardize a Churchill quote, Google is a terrible search engine, except for all the rest.

Re: Broken Search in Windows Server 2008

I think Microsoft's biggest problem (oddly enough), is that they pay *too much* attention to users. It's why you see "featureitis" in their products. They get feedback from thousands of organizations, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of users of some of their products... and then they try to complete every use case that was generated. It's insane. Google (and many other companies started in the Internet age) have an opposite approach to this. They simply listen to customers, and pick the one or two things that *everyone* wants, or they figure out the one unspoken use case, or figure out the #1 "pain point" and solve it. As a result, these companies have much easier to use products. Like with Web mail, Google figured out that the #1 pain point with Web mail was storage space. GMail's "killer feature" when it lauched was simply having a lot of storage space, nothing revolutionary about that.

So when Microsoft sets themselves to solving the desktop search problem, they come up with a monstronsity that only an engineer could love... endless settings, both permanent and "per-use", and if you don't configure it "just so", not only will it take longer, you might not even get what you need! It's really idiotic.

J.Ja

Bahahahahah

I am sorry, but that is too funny.

Some one was clearly not thinking when they set the defaults for the build. That should be updated for a service pack.

It's not broken; you need to install Search 4.0

It's not broken.

You need to install Search 4.0 which finalized after 2008 went gold. It will integrate Vista and Server 2008 search apparently.
http://formortals.com/Home/tabid/36/EntryID/89/Default.aspx

You can also install the free enterprise search product http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=1033.

Re: It's not broken; you need to install Search 4.0

If you need to install something to make search work, then it is broken.

Your statement is like saying that Ford Pintos weren't dangerous when rear-ended because you could install a bladder in the gas tank.