DISQUS

Mr. X · 6 months ago

Bing failed me this morning. I have to download patches for a DMZ server, so I couldn't use WSUS. I knew the KB numbers and added on the strings of "2003" (for Server 2003 patches) and "download". Bing was inconsistent in giving me the top results. (I believe I added "x86" as a string to filter out the x64 stuff.) At one point, none of the first four links had what I wanted and links 3 & 4 were non-MS links. I was in a hurry and not happy about this. Switched to Google with the same search criteria and the first link that showed up for the patch I was searching on was exactly what I wanted. I sometimes wonder if MS tests this stuff out. One of the most damning things I ever learned about MS search capabilities were how lousy it was searching its own site for its own things. It's as if they were oblivious to the fact that Google, though not perfect, searches their own site better than the lousy search engine they have used for years for KB articles and the like (I have seen newspaper sites like that, but that's another story). If they start to use "Bing" inside the MS web site, I'll sit up in my chair and take notice, but when I put it to the test this morning in searching for patches, it finished second in a two-man race. (To be fair, VMware's search engine also leaves something to be desired, but as is the case with MS, it sometimes not the fault of the search engine, but rather an issue with the lack of information in the KB itself.)

Side note: IE8 will gain in popularity once someone comes up with an ad blocker for it that is equal to Ad Block Plus for Firefox. Until then...

Bob Caswell · 6 months ago

Interesting use case, Mr. X. I'm guessing Microsoft isn't currently targeting searchers of DMZ server patches (when compared to the mainstream audience) with this first push that's more vertical focused.

That said, I'm hoping Bing gets better here quickly.

me · 6 months ago

http://www.bing.com/search?q=70-290&setmkt=...

that is interesting search result :)

Anyway better than live search were on first page were braindumps only:)

Wayne Hoggett · 6 months ago

LOL @ me (above)

Born to Learn staff, can we cut the advertising on this site please? Yeah I know about Natal and Yes I know about Bing. I don't want to hear about other MS products here please. Reserve this blog for training/certification related posts.

Bob Caswell · 6 months ago

Thanks for the feedback, Wayne. I'll make sure it gets to the right person, and I'll do my part to blog more about training/certification. :-)

In general, though, I think we'll always have a certain amount of "off topic" posts. The trick is finding the right balance.