Microsoft's recent announcement of a pair of enterprise search products came as the market is at a "tipping point," in the words of one spokesman.
Microsoft clearly believes there is a major opportunity with company officials saying that about 6 million U.S. businesses don't use enterprise search products.
Microsoft's new products, Search Server 2008 and Search Server Express 2008, follow releases from Google and IBM and are based
on technology from Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The Express edition, now in a release candidate stage, can be
downloaded free. Feature-wise, it is similar to the commercial version, but users are restricted to a single installation.
Both will be generally available in the first half of 2008, according to Microsoft. The company has not released pricing information
but stressed it will be competitive.
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