MSDN and TechNet are getting a search update!

jandrick — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:47:00 GMT

So a few months ago we began the planning for an improved version of the search we provide on MSDN and TechNet. We collected all the feedback we could from the current experience and the feedback from our most recent labs prototype and integrated them into a new design. The new search incorporates numerous requested features and some others that we feel will help you find what your looking for.

This next release scheduled to begin in Mid-April will include:

Improved coverage and performance from the Live Search SOAP API
Contextual refinment capability
More Content
Simplified UI (No tabs)

In the coming months following this release we will be turning on a couple of other cool features that we hope you will find useful; Autocomplete and Pre-scoping. The Autocomplete feature works by pulling common terms from our lexicon as you type them. We hope this will help you to avoid misspelling and/or improve your ability find the term that will best locate the content you are looking for. The prescoping feature offers the ability narrow your search to the section of the MSDN or Technet Site you are visiting.

In the works

We have a few new cool things in the works that I would like to share, but I can't today. I just want to let you know your feedback has been awesome and we are working hard to offer some big steps in the right direction.

Thanks

MSDN & TechNet Search Blog : TechNet Search

MSDN and TechNet are getting a search update!