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Microsoft Windows Live is the future of MSN search

Microsoft wins by a big margin when it comes to creating user interfaces. The Redmond guys proved that again with Windows Live Search.

The interface (UI) of Windows Live is simple like Google yet more elegant and more intutive.

I am especially liking the Image results page - image thumbnails are neatly laid out and show a slightly bigger version of the image with details when you move the mouse over. You can even control the size of thumbnails to display more results on one page. Excellent stuff.

I tried to search for some adult images and Windows Live showed the following smart message:

This query has triggered our safe search filter. Flexible settings are coming soon.

However, it did accept the same adult queries for Web search.

Also, the idea to provide a "search within this site" button with each result is innovative and useful.

The feeds results feature should not be confused with Blog search - Live Feeds search displays only links to RSS feeds and if multiple items in one feed matches the search query, only one result is displayed. Clicking on the feed results shows the most recent articles of the feed.

And yes, there are a couple of more are where MSN needs to improve:

1. Windows Live is not fast like Google or Yahoo

2. News results become more relevant when related news stories are grouped - Windows Live shows plain vanilla results.

3. There is no advanced search options yet (but I am sure they are coming soon)

4. Microsoft is not following the standard URLs and the Windows Live search URLs are difficult to remember though they can be bookmarked.

http://www.live.com/#q=bill%20gates&offset=1 - Search Bill Gates in Web

http://www.live.com/#q=bill%20gates&scope=images&lod=2 - Search Bill Gates Images.

Final Word:

With the latest Windows Live Beta, Microsoft has definitely proved that they are putting up a tough fight for Google. But search is not just about nice looking GUIs, it's more about the amount of data indexed and how quick that data is made available. That's where Google still reigns supreme.



Read some more opinions on Live.com here, here, here and here

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