Windows 7 would be Faster Desktop Search

Microsoft says its new Windows 7 operating system will include features that improve desktop search -- long a source of frustration for computer users who complain about being able to find obscure documents on the Web faster than, say, the resumé they saved to their hard drive the previous night.

"Many users, me included, store their files, music, and pictures all over the PC in various folders," noted Yochay Kiriaty, a Windows 7 developer at Microsoft, in a blog post Monday. "This affects the indexing and therefore the entire search experience."

The problem is that, for search purposes, Windows XP and Vista only automatically indexed content stored in user specific folders such as "My Documents" or "My Pictures," so files saved outside those folders took longer to find when searched for.

Windows 7 addresses the issue by allowing users to control which folders are included in the Documents Libraries automatically indexed by the OS. For instance, a user could specify that a folder called "Rotisserie Results" or "Home Recipes" be included among the indexed folders.