Desktop search

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Desktop search is the name for the emerging field of search tools which search the contents of a user's own computer files, rather than searching the Internet. The emphasis is on data mining all the information that is available on the user's PC, including web browser histories, e-mail archives, word-processor documents, and so on. One of the main advantages of Desktop Search programs is that search results come up in a few seconds. For home users, it means faster access to everything stored on the computer. For business users, it means added productivity and simplifying the workday. As companies continue to add systems and processes to knowledge workers' routines, end users are slowly adopting desktop search tools as a way to mitigate the firehose of data and cut down on unnecessary steps.

Desktop search is emerging as a concern for large firms for two main reasons: untapped productivity and security. A commonly cited statistic states that 80% of a company's data is locked up inside unstructured data — the information stored on an end user's PC, the files and directories they've created on a network, documents stored in repositories such as corporate intranets and a multitude of other locations. Moreover, many companies have unstructured information stored in older file formats that they don't have ready access to.

Security is another frequently cited concern. Companies are under new regulatory mandates like Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and FERPA to make sure that access to sensitive information is 100% controlled. This creates a challenge for IT organizations, which may not have a desktop search standard, or lack strict central control over end users downloading tools off the Internet. Some consumer-oriented desktop search tools make it possible to generate indexes outside the corporate firewall and share those indexes with unauthorized users. In some cases, end users are able to index — but not preview — items they should not even know exist.

Contents 1 Technologies 2 Products 3 External links 3.1 Comparisons 3.2 Specific products

[edit] Technologies

The only way to achieve reasonable performance when searching several gigabytes of data is to build and maintain an index database. When indexing the files, desktop search tools collect three types of information about files:

1. file and directory names
2. metadata, such as titles, authors, comments in file types such as MP3, PDF and JPEG
3. content of supported documents.

To search within documents, the tools need to be able to parse many different types of document. This is achieved by using filters that interpret selected file formats. For example, a Microsoft Office Filter might be used to search inside Microsoft Office documents.

Long-term goals for desktop search include the ability to search the contents of image files, sound files and video by context.

The sector has attracted considerable attention from the emerging struggle between Microsoft and Google. According to market analysts, both companies are attempting to leverage their monopolies (of web browsers and search engines, respectively) to strengthen their dominance. This may bring back memories of the browser wars of the 1990's.

[edit] Products

Some of the products in this emerging market are:

• AOL — plans to release its own application based on Copernic technology.
• Ask.com
• Autonomy — IDOL Enterprise Desktop Search.
• Beagle — GPL desktop search tool primarily developed for Linux by Novell (GNOME, Mono).
• Beetext Find - Indexes and searches almost any file formats.
• Blinkx
• Copernic Desktop Search
• Daemon Tools Prepackaged into Daemon Tools
• Docco — based on Apache's indexing and search engine Lucene, and it requires a Java Runtime Environment.
• Filehawk — Indexes and searches files' content in computers, networks and removable devices
• Google Desktop — Integrates with the main Google search engine page.
• HotBot — Lycos HotBot has an adware desktop search toolbar for IE.
• imgSeek — Desktop content-based image search with search by sketch feature.
• ISYS Search Software — ISYS:desktop search software.
• Strigi — Free software framework designed to allow applications to index and retrieve files.
• Likasoft Archivarius 3000 — flexible desktop and network search software with support for many languages and encodings as well as for content of compressed archives.
• Nero Scout — Prepackaged into Nero software
• Windows Desktop Search — MSN Search Toolbar includes Windows Desktop Search which incorporates much of the desktop search technology initially promised for Windows Vista, the next version of Microsoft Windows. The search integrates into the task bar and Internet Explorer windows.
• regain — is a Lucene based search engine released under GPL for Desktop Search as well as for intranet and Web server.
• Spotlight — Found in Apple Mac OS X "Tiger".
• Tropes Zoom — Semantic Search Engine.
• X1 Desktop Search. Free desktop search tool with an available free deployment tool for IT. This product enables users to not only find, but also preview and act on search results, especially useful in the areas of email and Office file types.
• X1 Desktop Search, renamed X1 Enterprise Client, as reviewed in Information Week April 2005, also offers enterprise-scale desktop search (as reviewed in Network Computing, September 2005).

[edit] External links

[edit] Comparisons

• Keeper Finders, by Paul Boutin, Slate, December 31, 2004 — A comparison of Google, Ask Jeeves, HotBot, MSN and Copernic desktop search tools.
• Marc Orchant at The Office Weblog Comparative reviews of desktop search tools
• GoebelGroup.com's desktop search tools comparison chart
• A detailed comparison of desktop search tools
• Enterprise Desktop Search Resource Center hosted by X1, but with a non-partisan bent

[edit] Specific products

• AltaVista Discovery was the first desktop search tool from AltaVista. Regretfully, contrary to what this external reference says, it can't be downloaded and installed from any available source.
• Review of ISYS:desktop search software