You'll probably read this a dozen times today but just in case you miss it everywhere else, Microsoft has released the public beta of their MSN Search suite which includes a deskbar, an Outlook Search bar (a la Lookout), and an Internet Explorer toolbar (built on the existing MSN browser bar).

I've been testing this app for the past month and it currently falls in the middle of the pack in my opinion. It's not quite as nicely designed as Copernic Desktop Search but does offer the Outlook bar and a direct, one-click to MSN Space. It's nowhere near as robust at x1 but it is free. It's not as "cool" as Blinkx, but it does actually produce consistently relevant results.

It's a decent beta offering. It still needs work though, especially in supporting more file types and offering more precise control over how, what,  and when information is indexed (x1 is the champ at this, Google and Blinkx the worst).

Scoble has a couple of lengthy videos up on Channel 9 if you want to see how it works before committing to  installing it yourself:

MSN Desktop Search (Silicon Valley team) gives a demo of MSN Desktop Search

MSN Desktop Search (Redmond team) talks about the development of MSN Desktop Search

There's also a brief tour on the MSN site.

And finally, here are two cool tricks you can do with the new MSN Search tools from the MSN Search Blog:

Start any task, quicker

By default you can jump focus to the Deskbar by pressing CTR+ALT+M.  For fans of the Window's key – go to Deskbar options and enter SHIFT+Q (or any letter not already in use).  Now when you press Windows+Q you'll jump to the Deskbar and be ready to search right away. 

Find entire conversations

After finding an email you were looking for, try right-clicking on it.  Select "Show Conversation" and we'll automatically refine the search results to show all the emails from the conversation thread.

UPDATE: Microsoft has added a link on the download page to grab iFilter which extends the MSN Search suite's capabilities to Adobe Acrobat PDF files.

TIP: You can seriously expedite the time it takes to index your system by doing the following two things.

1. Make sure Outlook or Outlook Express is open. The MSN Indexer will only index mail when the client is running (Google has this same limitation, x1 and Copernic do not).

2. Bring the Indexer to the foreground by clicking on the MSN Search icon in the System Tray and choosing Indexing Status. Click the "Index Now" button and let the window "float" above whatever you're working on. This way, it keeps running (with minimal impact on the system) rather than pausing every time you move the mouse. Or, you could leave the PC on and go take a long drive.