Longhorn - Feature Phishing Nightmare

The feature set of Longhorn has been reduced several times. To my mind this is a good thing as it prevents more buggy software from entering the Windows ecosystem. WinFS is a by all internal reports, not ready for prime time as it is the first pass by MS. One continuing problem is that Microsoft's annoying and dangerous tendency to integrate new features into the OS that serve business purposes rather than technical purposes. The most horrific example is of course Internet Explorer which resulted in thousands of viruses being spread at the cost of billions of dollars to corporations. To date no one has really held Microsoft responsible for the enourmous costs they forced on the world in their efforts to destroy Netscape. Every decision has unforeseen consequences but in the case the consequeces where pretty obvious. Of course Microsoft is protected by their EULA which means they do not bear the financial cost of their huge mistake. I mention this as an example as MS is about to do it again. This time with the new and improved desktop search integrated into Longhorn. Once again here's chairmen Bill Gates from the same article I quoted the other day.

". . .-our research agenda will allow us to take today's search from ourselves and Google, and make what we have today look like a joke. And a lot of that will be built into applications like Office or the Windows shell. I see our desktop search offering--I think every review I've seen has rated it far better than what Google is coming out with.
When you get to Longhorn, it will even have deeper integration, and we'll have the same index format. So anybody who wants a smooth transition to Longhorn where you don't have dual indexers and everything--the commitment we're making at our desktop search is that same indexing, same format, and we'll make that very smooth for people."

The first error that Mr. Gates makes is mistakenly equating his companies search product with Google. As my last post pretty clearly demonstrates, Microsoft has a LOOONG way to got to even match Google's current offering.

The compelling business case for this integration that it allows MS wrap the "search" experience from files to the Internet into a MS branded experience. This will allow them to "choke off Google's air supply," by owning the entire search experience. Really this is about ending a competitive threat and much less about. While there might be some debate about this. Some people may think I have got far too much crap on my hard drive. I need MS to help find stuff. For those people I recommend X1

Of course the real problem is the unintended consequences of this integration. While a technical case could be made for improving finding files - it's not really a hugely compelling case feature wise. The unintended consequence is that is provides crackers and other associated eavil doers with the capability to quickly find what they are looking for in a cracked server. Now passwords, credit card files, documents and anything you want to keep private will be quickly found. The feature will undoubtedly ship active from MS which means it provides a universal access point for all data on a machine. MS will undoubtedly bundle a server component which will also prove open to attack and rooting the machine and thus all machines on the network.Every time I hear integration from Microsoft, I think ok, how many viruses/root exploits will developed because of this integrated "feature."

Time will tell if I am right but for now I recommend actually buying X1. It's fast, secure and is much better than either Google or MS for desktop search.