Yahoo is now the latest search engine company to offer a desktop search utility, following similar launches by rivals Google, Microsoft and Ask Jeeves. Although still in beta, Yahoo Desktop Search, appears to be a bit more comprehensive than rival offerings.
For starters, it indexes some 200 file types, among them Microsoft Outlook e-mail, Word files, Adobe PDF documents, and audio and video, and allows users to preview them as well. That's a compelling feature and one that really gets at what Yahoo's vision of desktop search is all about.
"The notion of a 'desktop' is changing," Bradley Horowitz and Jeremy Zawodny write in the Yahoo Search Blog. "Most products are built with the premise that your desktop is just a way of seeing what's on your computer's hard disk. But in today's world, many of us create, find, use, and share information that lives in many places. Some of it lives on your computer, some lives on Yahoo and other online services, some may live on other computers or devices on your home network. We don't think you should have to think about where your stuff is stored in order to find it. That's where this is all headed. And as YDS evolves, you'll see that becoming more and more clear."
Since its release a few months ago, Google Desktop Search utility has received rave reviews from several sources. However, the Google tool only lists 8 file types that it searches, while the new Yahoo tool will work with 200 file types. If the Yahoo tool turns out to work well, it will set the new standard for all others to follow.
To download the Yahoo Desktop Search Utility, go to:
http://desktop.yahoo.com/
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