At this week’s Digital Life expo, Murdok got a firsthand look as Microsoft unveiled Windows Vista. With desktop based search functionality, Vista could give Microsoft the ability to challenge Google for supremacy.
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According to an August survey from Hitwise, Google is responsible for handling over 60% of all search traffic. Comparatively, Yahoo conducts 22.5% of searches while MSN’s search engine touts a paltry 11.8% usage among Internet users.
The arrival of Vista, however, could herald a fundamental shift of power in the currently one-sided realm of search.
You don’t have to take my word for it though. Take a look for yourself as Murdok has daily video coverage of this year’s Digital Life show, including the Vista rollout.
And as a self-admitted Google apologist, I must say that even I am impressed with Vista’s potential to impact the underlying landscape of search.
So what is so groundbreaking about search functionality in Vista versus that of Google?
The answer is simple, yet one for which Google has no answer; desktop based search.
“Search is contextually relevant in Windows Vista,” notes Microsoft VP of Marketing Mike Sievert.
To expound on his statement, search is perhaps the essential principle in Vista’s fluidity between the operating system and the user.
A single keyword can yield results consisting of documents, e-mail, music, and multiple other formats not only on a single PC, but also across an entire home network. All this can be accomplished from a search client located conveniently on Vista’s desktop interface.
Now imagine receiving online search results without ever having to open a browser.
This thought alone should give developers at Google serious cause for concern.
What Google brings to search in terms of quality, Microsoft could equal (or perhaps surpass) in terms of convenience to the user with the advent of Vista’s search tool.
The cold, hard truth is that Microsoft exerts complete dominance in the realm of operating systems. With a clear majority of PCs utilizing Windows, Microsoft could potentially cut Google off at the pass in providing users with a legitimate search option if online functionality is incorporated into Vista’s search tool.
So on the one hand, you can open your web browser, type in Google’s URL, and wait for the search results to load onto the page.
On the other, you can use the Vista search tool, which is already conveniently located on your desktop.
These days, Google clearly sports untold Internet prowess, to be sure. Ironically, Vista could remove the Internet as a factor in online search, giving user the flexibility to garner results without a browser with the presence of broadband connectivity.
Given the fact that broadband grows more affordable and available by the day, it’s only a matter of time before an overwhelming majority of Internet users enjoy the continuous connectivity that Vista could employ to make Microsoft a significant player in the search realm.
This scenario springs another question to life. Could a move like this by Microsoft compel Google to try its hand at an operating system in an attempt to turn the tables?
Now GoogleOS might not seem as farfetched an idea as it once appeared.
No matter what happens, the world of search just got a heck of a lot more interesting.
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Joe is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
