Google's Desktop Foray Is Smart, but Risky

Already the most popular search engine on the Web and most-hyped initial public offering of the new millennium, Google is now setting its sights on the desktop -- the domain of behemoth Microsoft(MSFT Quote).

Google soon plans to introduce a file and text search tool to help users locate information on their personal computers, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The Google software will primarily compete against Microsoft's own woefully deficient search function, which Bill Gates' company plans to improve with a new version of its operating system due out in 2006.

But analysts say the move by Google is unlikely to pose a serious threat to the world's largest software maker -- and may instead highlight the competitive challenges confronting Google. ...