Search Builder

In other search engines, if you would like to customize your search you have to use advance search options from a separate page. MSN search has made it a lot easier for average users by adding ability of customization right on search box.

Once you click on Search Builder from link right underneath of search box a drop down menu will open. Initially, menu might look a little confusing; with little patience you will be able to use available great features easily.

The tool “search terms” allows you to add Boolean search options. Site/ Domain tool is used for limiting a search to specific site or domain, or excluding them from your query. “Links to” tool helps you make your query within sites linked to a specific site. Country/ region and language options are required to make geography or language specific searches.

The best option from this group of features is “Result Ranking”. This option allows you to refine searches and give you a better control over search result by using a set of three bars. By sliding bars up and down you choose whether you want to see more of exact match or approximate match, more popular or less popular, static or dynamic pages as search results. You can generate an impressive range of results for a single query thanks to this option. This could be very useful for some types of searches. For example: if you are looking for news based pages, you might prefer to choose more dynamic pages rather than static ones.

Preference setting

Most notable options on setting page are “Safe Search” – ability to filter out sexually explicit images and texts, and ability to fix number of results displayed from one particular site.

Relevancy

Many reviewers claim that if you compare search results with Google, MSN search engine “falls short” in relevancy. However, my results showed otherwise.

I ran a search on phrase “trade leads”. The results from both search engines were very relevant. The only difference in MSN I noticed is our http://trade-leads.rusbiz.com managed to turn up on first page. But, a search on word “e-catalog” was brought better – more relevant – results on MSN then Google. This time too I was happy to see http://e-catalog.rusbiz.com on first page of MSN search results.

Conclusion

If you consider all new features of MSN that Google does not have yet, its ability to cover natural language queries, quality level and relevance of results, ability to refine searches, there is no doubt that MSN search engine is as good as Google.

Quick digression on “false positives”: if a vendor arrives at a unique string that just happens to be embedded in Microsoft Word, then every time a user runs a scan of their hard drive, Microsoft Word will be identified as being infected with NewVirus. Users will uninstall Word and re-install only to learn that they are still infected. There will be complaints; vendor will be forced to re-assess signature string and re-release his list of strings and admit error.

Typically signature strings are matched against a whole boatload of commonplace software just to protect against this occurrence, but it still happens and vendors learn to add new software to their test beds.

OK, so vendor has arrived at a signature string. Next? Implement string into their string database so that when their scanners are scanning they will match what’s on your hard drive to what’s in database. After database has been updated they release database to their customers in what’s commonly called a “push” where they send updates to their primary users.

If you did not buy into this service, you must know enough to log into your anti-virus vendor and update your software so that you stay current.

So where are we? The bad guy –or problem teenager- has unleashed NewVirus. NewVirus has infected thousands of computers; vendors have been alerted; NewVirus continues to infect; solutions are achieved and “pushed” to corporate clients; NewVirus continues to infect hundreds and thousands of computers; corporate clients breathe a sigh of relief and alert their users as to new threat.

Thousands, if not millions, of computers become infected and need to be cleaned because best way to solve virus problem is to wait for each new virus to come along and solve on a case by case basis.

But if you sat back and said: what if? What if you categorized all things a virus can do (or could do), built a series of computers to allow any email attachment or program to have full rein of a computer (much like it would have on your own computer – such a computer is called “honeypot”) and then analyze that computer for unwelcome behavior?

That would be a true pre-emptive strike against all malicious software. This is behavior-based model. Such a model would actually protect you unknown viruses, along with all known 70,000 viruses.

In part 2 we’ll discuss risks and security failures of having distributed vendor software on your desktop.