The new search tool, launched in the wake of a similar effort from Google, appears on the task bar in Microsoft Windows.

The new toolbar offers "breakthrough desktop search functionality that helps consumers quickly find virtually any type of document, media file or e-mail message on their Windows-based personal computer," Microsoft said.

"Now consumers don't have to spend valuable time sifting through an enormous amount of information; instead, they can quickly find precisely what they need."

Said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president for the MSN Information Services, "By delivering fast, precise answers with familiar technology, Microsoft is taking desktop information discovery to a new level."

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