MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 19 (UPI) -- California's Google will launch a file and text software search tool for finding information stored on PCs, in a direct challenge to Microsoft.
Code-named Puffin, it will be soon be available as a free download from Google's Web site, Marketwatch.com reported Wednesday.
Google's move is partly defensive. Microsoft's update of its operating system, called Longhorn, will reportedly feature a redesigned file system, making it possible to track and retrieve information in ways not currently possible with Windows software.
Although Google's core business rests on huge farms of server computers that permit fast searching on the Internet, the company has already taken several steps to move beyond that business.
In 2003 Google began testing a free program, called the Google Deskbar, to search the Web by entering words and phrases in a small dialog box placed in the Windows desktop taskbar at the bottom of the computer screen.
The company also sells a computer search system designed to index and retrieve information created and stored by a single organization.
Google has declined to comment on its Puffin tool.
