• January 16, 2005

An MSN spokesperson would neither confirm or deny rumors circulating on search engine bulletin boards that the beta version of the proprietary Microsoft search engine would be finalized and released on February 1.

"Our timeline is driven by the quality of the service. When we feel the product has effectively incorporated the consumer feedback we receive, we will release the final product," the spokesperson said. "At this point, we are aiming to release the final service early this year."

A forum moderator for a popular search engine Web site, www.SearchEngineWatch.com, posted online that a "high-level" Microsoft employee had told him that the beta search would be finished and would go live on February 1.

--Shankar Gupta