Search wars flare up with free IBM upgrade

The enterprise search wars have escalated again with a new release of IBM OmniFind Yahoo Edition. The free offering lets users add customisation and personalisation capabilities to their searches.

The release lets users separate content into independent document collections, for example by source, to improve search results. Near duplicates in search results can also be removed and the software packs a new administration console. Browser support has also been extended and performance tweaked.

"The previous release was focused on addressing bugs and adding some fit and finish but this release is all about some big new capabilities that you have been asking for," IBM developers wrote on the OmniFind blog. "We've tried really hard to maintain the unprecedented ease of use of the prior releases while delivering a much more powerful search engine."

The blog also demonstrates the latest capabilities.

IBM said almost 25,000 users have downloaded its search software but the company is under pressure from Microsoft, which recently issued a beta of its Enterprise Search Server. Unlike the IBM offering, Microsoft does not limit the number of documents that can be searched and the giant will also benefit from integration with its desktop and server software stack.