Recommended Posts

Recently stumbled across an article detailing Windows 7's OpenSearch technology, which basically adds search capabilities into explorer.

Article

Decided to cook one up for Neowin, with this little .osdx file you'll be able to search Neowin's forums from within Explorer. :)

Download - 1KB

Blog post with additional OpenSearch providers.

Edited by -Hiroshi-
Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/
Share on other sites

Again, another feature not many people know about and certain people disregard when saying Windows 7 should be a service pack to Windows Vista :rolleyes:

Thanks for notifying everyone of this -Hiroshi- :) I remember this from one of Long Zheng's blog posts where he incorporated Flikr into Windows Explorer - very nice! :)

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590360456
Share on other sites

Again, another feature not many people know about and certain people disregard when saying Windows 7 should be a service pack to Windows Vista :rolleyes:

Thanks for notifying everyone of this -Hiroshi- :) I remember this from one of Long Zheng's blog posts where he incorporated Flikr into Windows Explorer - very nice! :)

No problem, I'm working on a few others from various different websites like Arstechnica and Activewin. :) I'll post them if anyone wants them.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590360478
Share on other sites

No problem, I'm working on a few others from various different websites like Arstechnica and Activewin. :) I'll post them if anyone wants them.

Well I'm sure I'll find them useful (for many of the sites I visit, including Neowin) for when I finally install Windows 7. So, thank you in advance :D

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590360528
Share on other sites

Is it time consuming making these scripts? Or are they flexible with different sites?

Takes me half a minute to create a new search, only restraints is that the page needs to support RSS. What it basically does is that the websites themselves don't support OpenSearch, but Windows Live Search does, and so it uses Live Search to search the pages which feature RSS.

Brandon already created one for Deviantart, you can find it in the article.

Made a Wikipedia one.. - Download

I could be wrong, or it could be a bug in firefox, but it doesn't look like Wikipedia has RSS but it still works..

Edited by -Hiroshi-
Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590360542
Share on other sites

Oh wow, is that the feature you were appointed to develop? Or one that you helped think up? etc. (I don't know how Windows development works :p )

Using OpenSearch was my idea and I built the original prototype, but not without some crucial help from a couple other brilliant folks :) Because of that work I'm the dev owner of the feature for Win7. Of course it takes a lot of work from people all around the Find & Organize team to actually make it happen. Lots of pieces had to come together to pull it off.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590364450
Share on other sites

Using OpenSearch was my idea and I built the original prototype, but not without some crucial help from a couple other brilliant folks :) Because of that work I'm the dev owner of the feature for Win7. Of course it takes a lot of work from people all around the Find & Organize team to actually make it happen. Lots of pieces had to come together to pull it off.

Well I don't know how often this happens in Microsoft, but you must be proud that the idea you thought of (and later built a prototype of) was implemented into Windows and will become a very handy feature? :) (obviously when Windows 7 RTMs and is adopted by more people).

My dream job would be to work in Microsoft on one of the Windows teams, in the future, after I've learnt much more and graduated university... I can only dream though :p

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590364476
Share on other sites

I hope you guys have tried the Flickr and DeviantArt osdx plugins that are out there.

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/30/a-...rch-connectors/

Opening DeviantArt images directly inside Explorer and setting them as your background wallpaper really shows you how cool / effective this feature can be. Unfortunately I couldn't find cool uses for it beside image stuff just yet -- most plugins are just searches for web pages on websites which I am quite fine with doing on the browser. I'm not part of an enterprise with Sharepoint where I would get utility out of searching for Office docs on a company share. Obviously you can't have stuff like YouTube videos looking like regular video in Explorer (or can you? Someone please do this).

If Federated Search can do such a good job with images, can we also interact with other files in Explorer instead of just finding the containing webpage?

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590366064
Share on other sites

Is it like the Keyword feature in Firefox ?? Just a question because I still don't understand it

Not sure what you're referring to. Most browsers use OpenSearch Description Files to add custom search providers to their search boxes. This is a bit different, as the browser just takes you to the HTML view of the results. In our case, we use OpenSearch to add the location and then RSS or Atom to enumerate the results and display them in a rich client view, the same view we use for desktop search results. There's also a lot of fancy behind the scenes work to make the items work as if they were local or on a network share (so you have drag-and-drop, open / right-click, previews, etc).

We're working on an in-depth blog post, so keep an eye on the E7 blog over the coming weeks.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590366502
Share on other sites

Wow Brandon, I love this feature (:

Very cool. If I wanted to add a website, would it need to support RSS or Atom, for it too work?

Yeah, the site will need to expose the results as either RSS or Atom. Either that, or you'd need to write a proxy that can generate the RSS or Atom feed, as Long Zheng did with his Flickr prototype.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590368894
Share on other sites

Yeah, the site will need to expose the results as either RSS or Atom. Either that, or you'd need to write a proxy that can generate the RSS or Atom feed, as Long Zheng did with his Flickr prototype.

Hmm... How does the wikipedia one work? S:

Anyway, thanks for the info. :)

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590370236
Share on other sites

Nice.. it would've been cool if you guys had posted the scripts I had made up on the front page, instead of stealing the links from my first post that I spent some time investigating for...

I am not a regular visitor of forums and I noticed this thread only after you posted the link in the comments. Will keep an eye on the forums :)

And FYI I did not steal the links, Google will anyhow take you there ;)

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590373494
Share on other sites

Awesome feature :)

Loving the DeviantArt Connector

www.istartedsomething.com seems to be down so can't get the Flickr Connector yet.

Would it be possible to make a YouTube Connector that only searches for videos that are HD, and also have the option to download? That would be sweet. :)

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/717288-opensearch/#findComment-590373774
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • "Samsung is shutting down yet another app used by millions" I will fix the clickbait title for you, free-of-charge: "Samsung shutting down it's Max VPN app"
    • Microsoft brings Planner Agent to all Microsoft 365 Copilot users by Ivan Jenic Image: Microsoft Microsoft has announced that Planner Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot is now generally available to all users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Planner Agent is the latest addition in the string of AI features that Microsoft is implementing across virtually all of its products. The agent lets you manage tasks through natural language prompts directly inside Microsoft 365 Copilot. You can create and update tasks, check priorities, and get insights about current entries without leaving the chat interface. The general availability release comes with a handful of new additions on top of what was available during the initial rollout. A new plan picker lets you search and filter your plans by name, then update task names, statuses, due dates, or priorities through the agent. There's also a goals bucket now, which lets you group tasks under specific goals. This builds on the Goals view, a feature that was introduced as part of the broader Planner refresh that rolled out earlier. Image: Microsoft | Planner Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot All AI-generated plans and tasks are created in draft mode by default, so you can review and approve changes before anything goes through. This is actually a thoughtful safety feature, because trusting AI to handle all your tasks without a human in the loop is usually a recipe for disaster. Having tasks initially saved as drafts is the best possible middle ground. Microsoft also says that not all tasks are executed equally. Simple tasks get processed quickly, while more complex ones, like building a plan from a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, are handed to a more capable model. Microsoft says this approach delivers the best performance, but it could also help with usage management, as you won't have to waste tokens on performing simple tasks. Planner Agent is available now across Teams, Loop, SharePoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps for anyone on a Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription.
    • To be clear I'm anti trump, the bigger point is why review this game at all?
    • Trillion dollar Microsoft has to reduce spending by hurting more people. Good job Microsoft. Good Job Asha.
  • Recent Achievements

    • First Post
      Cosminus earned a badge
      First Post
    • One Year In
      ThatGuyOnline earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Jeroen Wilms earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      493
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      191
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      124
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      86
    5. 5
      neufuse
      73
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!