Google steals march on Microsoft
Google steals march on Microsoft
Google Inc. is planning to expand its sophisticated search technology into individual computers with a new program that can search through documents, emails, instant message and many other files stored in the hard drive.
Google's new search application for the desktop uses the same algorithms used on the Internet to find information very easily.
It is designed for Windows XP and 2000 PCS, and puts it ahead of Microsoft's plans to release similar search tools in the next version of Windows, due to be unveiled in 2006.
It can be used offline to search the hard rives, but it can also merge with the online search engine too.
Windows XP at the moment uses an index service with its search engine, but this slows the computer down while it is still running. So each search, under this system, has to scan the whole hard drive, which takes a long time.
Google, on the other hand, creates an index when the computer is not in use. It only takes place when the computer is idle for 30 seconds or more, but once it is completed, it is basically transformed into a database.
The Google algorithm technology can then find information much more easily using key terms, just like how the technology is used on the Internet.
However, X1 Technologies Inc., claims to go even further than Google. It's search engine indexes material on company Intranets and shared drives and protects the privacy of each item too.
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