Search vendors sometimes give away feature-constrained or capacity-clipped versions of their enterprise solutions. An example of the latter is IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition – a very good pick for intranets or moderate-sized Web sites. But it's almost unheard of to find a freebee enterprise search server with hardly any gotchas. Yet that's exactly what Microsoft introduced earlier this week with Search Server 2008 Search vendors sometimes give away feature-constrained or capacity-clipped versions of their enterprise solutions. An example of the latter is IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition – a very good pick for intranets or moderate-sized Web sites. But it’s almost unheard of to find a freebee enterprise search server with hardly any gotchas. Yet that’s exactly what Microsoft introduced earlier this week with Search Server 2008 Express, which is based on the core SharePoint technology.Setting up Express required about an hour. This included software installation on a Windows Server 2003 system running Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and then configuring search settings using the Unified Administration Dashboard. This interface, which is built around SharePoint Web Parts, should become second nature to new admins after a few hours; SharePoint jockeys will immediately feel right at home. Out-of-the-box, Search Server 2008 Express had no trouble indexing content on file servers, Web sites, SharePoint, and Exchange Server public folders. Microsoft-provided iFilters discovered content in many common document formats (text, HTML, Microsoft Office documents, and TIFF); additionally, I installed third-party iFilters that recognized content in .ZIP archives and other document types. Free connectors to index content from EMC Documentum and IBM FileNet repositories should be ready in early 2008, when the not-free Search Server 2008 is due to arrive, according to Microsoft. Yet what I found most intriguing is that all Microsoft’s search products (which include Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 as well as Search Server 2008 and Express) will have federated search capabilities based on the OpenSearch standard. While this feature also wasn’t ready for testing, representatives from OpenText, Business Objects, and Cognos stated they are building OpenSearch connectors for their systems.As with SharePoint search, Express respected various types of security. During indexing, Access Control Lists (ACLs) are captured for content residing in file shares, SharePoint sites, and IBM Lotus Notes databases. Additionally, user-level security (basic, NTLM, Kerberos, forms-based, and cookies) restrict which results are returned based on a user’s identity when submitting a query.Search Server Express shouldn’t take much maintenance. For example, the search index is continuously updated. As a result, new content from my large intranet test site quickly appeared in the search results even when the server was still crawling other content repositories. Also, I deleted several Web pages and documents from the index – and created Best Bets (featured results) – without needing to re-crawl the source. The minimalist design of the search interface (which looks and works like SharePoint 2007) enabled me to easily construct both simple and advanced queries. Because Search Server 2008 Express uses a ranking engine similar to what’s behind Windows Live search, I found results were very relevant without any manual intervention. In fact, the default results page includes Internet Live Search results. Spelling correction, Best Bets, and duplicate removal further contribute to quickly finding the right information.As is commonplace with search applications, you can subscribe to search results using e-mail alerts and RSS and Atom feeds. However, there are no social features as you find in Vivísimo Velocity 6.0 or Coveo Enterprise Search 5.Showing its SharePoint heritage, I easily revised the search interface’s appearance using Microsoft SharePoint Designer without rewriting any code. Furthermore, I rapidly changed and added Web Parts to search results and administration pages (using standard SharePoint editing functions that are built in to Express). After testing this newest addition to Microsoft’s enterprise search cast, I found it fast to set up, easy to use and customize, and capable of producing reliable results. It’s tempting – but unfair – to characterize Search Server 2008 Express as a “Trojan Horse” that you’ll quickly outgrow. I suspect Microsoft hopes some enterprises will get hooked on SharePoint after tasting Express. But the only notable restriction I could find is that you can’t cluster servers, which will be possible with Microsoft Search Server 2008. If OpenSearch connectors are delivered, I feel Express will pose a real challenge to established enterprise search vendors. Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express Release Candidate Availability: Release Candidate available for download now. Pricing: Free Verdict: Search Server 2008 Express delivers essential enterprise search features with few restrictions, solid security, and simple administration. The Web-style Search Center interface is easy to use for both basic and complex queries, and can be localized for 25 languages. Express has no pre-set document limits. Federated search of other vendors’ document repositories, based on the OpenSearch standard, should be ready in early 2008. Technology Industry