While it’s not exactly PC World Labs, the current issue of Redmond Magazine has staged a fight-to-the-finish, boxing battle royale inside the ropes of a fight ring called Search. The bruising contest pits hometown hero Microsoft against an insurgent called Google in a two-round battle featuring Web Search and Desktop Search. And the winner is? Well, I guess you’ll just have to click to find out…
Touting the matchup as the “epic struggle for supremacy” as narrated by Redmond Magazine’s Michael Desmond may be overly dramatic, but the local publication does a sportsmanlike job of refereeing this heavyweight match-up. The historic counter-punching is well-known. “Google surged to an early lead,” and Microsoft responded with “an impressive flurry of body blows that quickly closed the gap.”
In the Web Search round, Redmondmag credits Windows Live Search as ending Google’s embarrassing rout with a number of pleasing scroll effects such as its detail slider bar that lets you determine how much in-depth information shows up on the results page.
Live.com’s “Search within this site” was deemed more satisfying as was the image-search interface whcih expands the image being viewed on hover. But going the distance proved tricker. For depth of coverage, the nod went to Google when a search for images of first round NFL draft pick Kamerlon Wimbley turned up 110 image results on Google, and just 45 hits on Live Search.
The judge’s decision? Even with the fancy footwork, speed and performance of Windows Live Search, the Redmond card went to….Google. Stay tuned. There will be a rematch!
In Desktop Search, Windows is defending a title it has held since, well, forever. Google Desktop Search (GDS) broke open the market for indexed desktop search by allowing users to instantly unearth files, email mesasges and other data buried on their hard disks. But this particular fight featured retired the ancient native Windows search in favor of the latest beta of Windows Vista.
With Vista, uers can initiate instant searches directly from a text box in the Start menu. A short list of results appears within the Start menu space, conveniently organized by type. Click the “See all results” link and the findings appear in an Explorer window. From there, you can click the Advanced Search button and dial in filters like dates, sizes and locations using graphical controls. The resulting search variables are displayed in the primary search box, making it easy to keep an eye on what you are searching against. Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee!
In a dazzling right hook combination, the results of Vista search can be displayed in a Windows Explorer window (the default quick search results appear in the Start menu area). That means you can instantly sort by date or file size or file name, and you can right-click and copy/delete files.
The decision? According to redmondmag.com, “Microsoft is playing the role of a maturing fighter, studying film to copy his opponent’s best moves, and then adding a few new combinations of his own. The desktop search functionality built into Windows Vista is lightning quick and easy to use, but Microsoft wins this skirmish on the strength of its output.” It’s Microsoft in the fiinal round.
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