Monday, December 13, 2004

MSN Desktop Search now available

Not surprisingly, MSN Desktop Search is now available for download (note: I first found out about this via this post on thetabletpcweblog, so they get the link).  Some useful things from the tabletpcweblog post:

From the MSN Search Blog by way of thetabletpcweblog:

Start any task, quicker

By default you can jump focus to the Deskbar by pressing CTR+ALT+M.  For fans of the Window’s key – go to Deskbar options and enter SHIFT+Q (or any letter not already in use).  Now when you press Windows+Q you’ll jump to the Deskbar and be ready to search right away. 

Find entire conversations

After finding an email you were looking for, try right-clicking on it.  Select “Show Conversation” and we’ll automatically refine the search results to show all the emails from the conversation thread.

Be sure to download iFilter that allows you to search inside Acrobat PDF files.  Also, 2 tips from tabletpcweblog to make indexing go faster:

  1. Make sure Outlook or Outlook Express is open. The MSN Indexer will only index mail when the client is running (Google has this same limitation, x1 and Copernic do not).
  2. Bring the Indexer to the foreground by clicking on the MSN Search icon in the System Tray and choosing Indexing Status. Click the “Index Now” button and let the window “float” above whatever you’re working on. This way, it keeps running (with minimal impact on the system) rather than pausing every time you move the mouse. Or, you could leave the PC on and go take a long drive.

I'm a little concerned with having so many search programs on my computer right now.  I'm going to dump a couple before I install this one.

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