"Google has all of the mind share in search," said English, who is also the author of several books about SharePoint. "Nobody thinks of Microsoft. Its biggest challenge is getting all of that mind share back."

Windows Live Search will compete against Google Desktop, which lets users search the content on their PCs as well as the Internet. Mountain View, Calif.-based Google also sells an enterprise search appliance that enables users to search corporate intranets. Other companies with an even more established presence in enterprise search include IBM, Autonomy Inc. and Fast Search & Transfer Inc.