Microsoft Updates Windows SearchMicrosoft Updates Windows Search

Microsoft has released Windows Search 4.0 for Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Home Server. The new version is supposedly faster and adds helpful administrative features.In a post on the Windows Experience blog, Windows Search Team spokeslperson Brandon LeBlanc wrote, "Queries are faster, as is indexing -- how much faster depends on your machine and your data. Improved reliability means that system failures won't get in the way of the indexer and all of your data will be scanned and available for searches.

"We've also extended remote index discovery, also known as PC-to-PC searches, which allows data to be searched quickly and efficiently across machines running Windows Search 4.0. This means that Windows Vista-to-Windows XP or Windows Vista-to-Windows Server 2008 queries are now possible."

Search 4.0 also offers user access control and direct connections to a company's internal Exchange-based search server. "We have extended Group Policy to control more aspects of search functionality and made this control more granular with per-user policies. You can use Group Policy Objects to control how desktop search accesses remote resources -- such as Microsoft Exchange Server resources or file shares -- to manage network utilization," wrote LeBlanc. "IT Pros can deploy a new link that will be added to the Instant Search UI of Windows Vista (or Windows Search UI on Windows XP) on client PCs and allow the query entered in the search box to access your company's search server....With this functionality, users get a single launch pad for all of their searches."ChannelWeb