Yahoo has released a public beta of their new free desktop search utility. It’s powered by the well established X1 local search engine and can index 200 different file types including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, Outlook, Outlook Express, HTML, text, ZIP and Adobe PhotoShop. At the moment it will only handle email files from Outlook and Outlook Express and, although it will index html files, it can’t index your web browsing history. First impressions were highly favorable. The search is very similar to X1 which is good news. The X1 display format for search results allows you to locate the information you want really quickly. It’s not the prettiest display format butdefinitely the most effective I’ve used. Nice, too, is the "find as you type" feature, though admittedly this could be a pain on a slow PC. The search functions can be accessed via a desktop icon, through the system tray or through a toolbar within Outlook. Search time is virtually instantaneous, a huge improvement on Windows cumbersome search or the normal email search offered by Outlook. There are a few downsides. First, real time indexing can slow your PC so I suggest you set it up to index overnight or another time you are not using your PC. Second, the program sends some information back to Yahoo so read the licensing agreement carefully before installing. Third, those who use Win9x/ME or Eudora and other non-Outlook email clients are out of luck. Finally, you’ll have to download the product using Internet Explorer as the web install uses ActiveX. All up though, it’s still probably the best free desktop indexing program yet. In effect, it offers most of the benefits of the full $75 X1 Search product for zip.
http://desktop.yahoo.com/
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