Filed under: Microsoft, Search
Microsoft to demo new search engine (Kumo) next week
As far as we can tell from early screenshots, Kumo features a clean, streamlined look with filters for search results in the left-hand navigation. You can sort search results by categories such as images, songs, lyrics, music, videos. You know, kind of like you can do with the new search filters that Google rolled out last week.
Kumo will also reportedly feature improvements to its video and image search engines. Because really, the most important thing isn't how nice a search engine looks, but how good it is at providing the information you're looking for.
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Robert said 1:53PM on 5-21-2009
If the search results are anything like the garbage Live Search spews forth then I'll pass.
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Rawker said 3:06PM on 5-21-2009
I have found that live usually has the more relevant results , at least for me
Robert said 3:19PM on 5-21-2009
Maybe it's been improved but my experience has always been:
1) Fresh windows install
2) search from IE toolbar
3) get defaulted to Live Search
4) wade through pages of useless links
5) change default search to google
6) redo my search
7) find relevant links toward top of first page
But I'm glad you've had a better time with it
Robert said 3:24PM on 5-21-2009
Oh I see, I wasn't thinking about image/video search - just general web search. I don't have much use for an image search as I have to be careful not to use copyrighted images.
Quikboy said 7:09PM on 5-21-2009
I'm curious as to what you searched, and didn't find at the top of the list. For me, most of my results are nailed down usually as the first link, or on the first page.
I'm not denying that Live Search can mess up; I sometimes do have to sift through pages to find the right link (if it's even listed). For instance, "on10" rarely ever shows up in the first 3 pages of search, even though it is somewhat affiliated with Microsoft. It has improved lately, as far as this website I always look up. It used to link to other pages within in the site, but not just the home page of the site. It's been fixed.
So Live Search does have its ups and downs, but usually I get pretty much the same relevancy as Google. So did you just use Live Search for web results one or few times?
Robert said 3:10PM on 5-24-2009
It's been at least six months since I've tried it - usually looking for useful information about Linux, Emulators, Modding, etc...
sitruc said 2:30PM on 5-21-2009
This reads like you are implying that Microsoft is copying Google's interface, but even the page you link to(which has a negative title for clicks) mentions that the MS screenshots you refer to are from March. Also, I'd easily put Live ahead of Google as far as video and images while the general web search is much better than what it was while Google has been slipping. Especially since teoma, ask has been one of the best in general searches.
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Brad Linder said 2:31PM on 5-21-2009
I never meant to imply that Google developed filters first... but only that they rolled them out first. It's certainly possible that they did this as a pre-emptive strike because Google knew that Kumo was coming.
burnblue said 2:56PM on 5-21-2009
The image and video searches are already miles above the competition, so it'll be interesting to see what improvements they make.
I'm not sure if they're really going to make regular search better, but let's see
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rtaycher said 3:39PM on 5-21-2009
May be good but at least the screen shown is ugly as hell, remind me of the
random searches you get when you mistype a word,probably a step downward from live UI.
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Quikboy said 7:06PM on 5-21-2009
I have to agree, I think the current Live Search looks much better than these screenshots. The blue/gray/orange color scheme looks not so pleasant. Also, the layout of where everything is seem much more inconvenient.