Microsoft has released an updated version of Windows Desktop Search, its program for indexing files and Outlook folders for lightning-fast searches. Here’s the home page for Windows Desktop Search.

It’s become an impressive program. It permits searches of Outlook public folders and files on mapped network drives, and it no longer requires installation of the MSN toolbar. (It does not index files in a network share that is not mapped to a drive letter.) The interface is clean and friendly, with a preview pane similar to Yahoo Desktop Search and X1.

I have been a fan of X1, but it is going through a difficult upgrade, and it’s no longer clear that it offers an advantage over Microsoft’s free search product. If you don’t currently have a program for searching your mail folders and files, give this a try – it can literally change the way you deal with your computer.

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