Microsoft makes Search Server 2008 Express free to good home

Redmond (WA) – Microsoft today took another step into Google territory, as the company has broken out the search capability of its SharePoint Server 2007 and has made an “Express” version of this feature available for free.

Called Search Server 2008 Express, the software hands companies and users with a server and multiple client computers at home a free search engine. Compared to the search feature of SharePoint Server 2007 and Search Server 2008, which will be offered at a later time for a fee, the Express version offers the complete toolset with the exception of load-balancing support.

According to Microsoft, the search engine can be installed and configured within 30 minutes. The software may just enough for most user and company needs, as it does not come with preset document limits and supports relevance tuning, query and results reporting, security trimmed results, administration dashboard and federated search connectors.

Microsoft said that connectors that will be able to index content from EMC’s Documentum and IBM’s FileNet are expected to be available in early 2008, while federated search capabilities based on the OpenSearch standard are added as well. According to the company, Open Text, Business Objects, Cognos and EMC are among the companies that have agreed to develop OpenSearch connectors.

Search Server 2008 Express is available for download from Microsoft’s website.