Alec Saunders SquawkBox

The desktop search war has begun in earnest.  Today, MSN released MSN Desktop Search.  This free utility sets the new bar for desktop search.  Compared to Google Desktop Search (which I have faithfully used for a very long time), it:

1. Presents the search results in a more useful fashion.
2. Indexes more types of files, and has a plug-in architecture for probably hundreds more filetypes.
3. Sports a very handy automatic form filler, which includes a way to securely store, and automatically enter such useful items as email, user ID, and even credit card information.

Awesome job guys.  I uninstalled Google this afternoon, and when asked the reason why during the uninstall script, I said "MSN presents the information in a more useful fashion".  I can hardly wait to see what Google comes up with next!

Some time ago, at the behest of my friend Wendy Kennedy, I started out to write a series of articles on marketing lessons learned at Microsoft. It’s been over two years since the last, but a couple of weeks back I wrote the latest while sitting on a four hour train ride from Toronto.  Without further ado:  Rule #4: Segment, segment, segment.