I have been discussing this with one of the ISVs these days. Where is Microsoft going with MSN Search the next years? What is the relationship with the Microsoft SharePoint Portal Search? I expressed my feeling that we are evolving to a search configuration that is more controlled by the desktop user than by an administrator. Using MSN Desktop Search, I can index resources on my own system. I think it should be possible also to define external 'content sources' that interest me such as Web sites, other file systems (from co-workers for example) where of course the users can specify what is allowed for indexing, databases, etc. As it seems according to this article, I am on the right track. And, something I did not know: Interestingly, he also noted that MSN Desktop Search is based largely on code from the Sharepoint server products.