02 Jan, 2008
Search Server 2008 first impressions, roadmap and opportunities
Posted by: Toni Frankola In: search server 
Back in November Microsoft announced Microsoft Search Server 2008 (MSS). It is built on SharePoint search technology but it does not include any other features. I have been testing it internally ever since and I must say that I am quite impressed with the results. The search engine is quick, reliable and fast.
With the release of MSS 2008 SharePoint for Search will be retired and a special enterprise search feature pack will be issued for MOSS 2007 to add newly developed features:
• Federation
• Unified administrative dashboard
• Improved crawl monitoring and history
• And a host of improvements for performance and reliability
MSS will be offered in two editions: Express (FREE) and Standard. The two products will differ only in high availability which will only be available for Standard edition. MOSS Enterprise 2007 will still be the most superior edition in the search family. It will offer everything as MSS does, along with people search and LOB search. Planned release date for MSS is March 1st 2008.
MSS 2008 Express is definitely the most interesting edition in the product line. It will allow MS Partner ecosystem to offer affordable search solutions for SMB businesses.
Here are some facts about search according to researches done by Versus, IDC and Forrester:
• Knowledge workers spend 30% of time searching
• Average person searches 20 times/day
• 55% of all searches are initiated within an organization
With MSS you will definitely have a good tool to address some of the problems mentioned above. I am definitely looking forward to MSS release date.
