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Ask Jeeves will launch a test version of its desktop search tool on Wednesday, following the launch of similar tools by rivals Microsoft on Monday and Google in October, and ahead of expected entries from America Online and Yahoo.

Ask Jeeves' application, called Ask Jeeves Desktop Search, is small at 750KB and can be downloaded for free, according to a statement from the Emeryville, California, company. The release of the beta follows this fall's announcement by Ask Jeeves of its revamped search engine.

MSN announced the beta version of its desktop search tool on Monday as part of its new MSN Toolbar Suite.

Designed to let users find files and information stored in their PCs, Ask Jeeves Desktop Search indexes and retrieves a variety of files, such as Microsoft Office documents, Microsoft Outlook e-mail messages, multimedia files, and applications.

The tool lets users narrow queries through a variety of parameters, such as searching only Microsoft Office documents or image files, and lets users sort the results in multiple ways. Users can also determine the parts of their hard drive they want indexed.

The Details

Ask Jeeves Desktop Search features a two-panel user interface that shows results on one side and previews on the other side.

During this test period, often referred to in the industry as a beta period, Ask Jeeves will gather feedback from users to improve the product.

A final version of the product is slated for next year, and it will feature more support for Outlook, an integration of PC and Web results, and support for Adobe PDF files.

The tool runs on computers using either the Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating systems, Microsoft Office 2000 or later versions, and Outlook 2003.

In an interview last week, an Ask Jeeves executive told IDG News Service that the Ask Jeeves Desktop Search tool will eventually be tightly integrated with the company's personal search service MyJeeves, which lets users store, categorize, and retrieve queries and results.

According to the company executive, Ask Jeeves envisions MyJeeves as a repository for all of a user's personal files, including Web pages, audio files, and photos, so that MyJeeves eventually becomes a platform for a user to share information with family members, co-workers, and other acquaintances.

Giving users the ability to find information in their often cluttered and disorganized hard drives has become a hot area, attracting large vendors, such as Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL and Google, and smaller vendors, such as Blinkx, Copernic Technologies, and X1 Technologies. X1, which has a desktop search tool in the market, has been tapped by Yahoo for the latter's product, which is expected to go into beta mode in the coming weeks.