As previously reported, Windows 8.1 is adding an updated Bing experience. Now, we have a better idea of what that entails, as Microsoft has just put out a blog post about them.
With the new Bing experience on Windows, you’ll see rich images across your search results, and Bing will search across the web as well as your machine.
“With search in Windows 8.1 our intent is to have one way to find what you’re looking for, no matter where it lives – whether it’s a document on your PC, a photo album in the cloud, an app, PC setting or a website. In just a tap or a click you can play, view, launch, or browse,” explains Bing Corporate Vice President Derrick Connell. “To set the course, we looked hard how people have been interacting with the new user experience introduced in Windows 8. Search has long been a part of Windows – especially powerful and useful in Windows 8 – where the Search Charm gives you a single place to find content in your apps. People told us they liked the ease of having fewer places to search. In Windows 8, people could direct their question at an app (like Travel) and have Bing bring back a beautiful, multi-faceted set of information and tools to help them plan their summer trip. But Windows 8.1 takes an even bigger step – with its new search experience, you can find your own personal stuff as well as content from the open web and the creativity of the millions of authors and developers.”
“Imagine you’re planning a trip to Paris,” says Connell. “Simply type the name of the city and you’ll immediately see beautiful, full-bleed images, upcoming events in the city, and popular attractions. But you can also check the current weather and book a hotel in the Bing Travel app, without having to open it up and type ‘Paris’ again. In the same way, your itinerary and budget, whether they are saved on your laptop or in the cloud, are right there. And of course, we’ll show you the great web results you’ve come to expect from Bing. ‘Paris’ isn’t just a single file or a search query in an app: it is a concept, full of both meaning and context, and we’ll bring its unique meaning to your digital life, all in one place.”
More from Connell here.
As Greg Sterling noted at Search Engine Land, depending on user adoption, the new Bing integration could help Microsoft whittle away a bit of market share from Google. It will have to do better than Windows 8 has done so far though.