Windows Live Search Beta

Microsoft is vying for the top spot in the search engine wars and experts have mixed feelings about the Windows Live Search Beta offering. Some say it’s the most credible attempt at challenging Google but others say it just isn’t enough. One thing is sure, it’s here to stay!

First off, the service senses your browser’s favorite language but doesn’t appropriately check for the exact geographic location (using the IP address). A selection of the latest news is presented under the traditional search field, in this case, the “Windows Live Search” field, to be precise.

Very quickly, the user figures he has to connect to see any advanced features. Once connected through the usual Passport service, it’s possible to change quite a few default preferences.

Over and above the news and search preferences, the user can try the new Windows Live Mail Beta where 2 Go of space is freely allowed to members who can enjoy Outlook-like features wherever they may roam.

Don’t cancel your hot Saturday night date to play with Windows Live Search Beta, it’s still in its infancy. The interface is probably deliberately scarce but it lacks depth in many ways. Microsoft is surely keeping a few surprises for later on.

Regarding the search engine itself, the results seem pretty sanitized and therefore, a little too boring. Navigating the results is downright innovative as far as technology is concerned but it’s not easy to have “the big picture”. There seems to be a bug in the sponsored results since there’s no scrolling feature. The flux feature which seems aimed at getting the latest news from blogs also appears not to be working, in most cases.

So this is it.

Microsoft is finally migrating its MSN brand to the Live branding. Don’t be surprised if you see the Redmond giant pull it’s search engine and Hotmail out of the portal and into the Live.com destination. It’s the new thing. From personalized home pages to web-based versions of their Office software, Live is now the center of Microsoft’s online experience.

The upside for Microsoft and it’s users is that this platform, as a digital foundation, has more potential than the previous model, mainly because it’s so tightly integrated. As such, good things might come of this effort but it’s not likely Google’s empire will be under any serious stress soon, because of it.