Microsoft to present operating system for “the cloud” (and other recent search engine news).

Microsoft Steve Ballmer visited Oslo this week and talked about the future of Microsoft in “the cloud”.

Google has clearly understood the new paradigm of moving software and file storage online, thus making the browser the main interface to the digital world, instead of the operating system. (Or rather, the browser becomes the new operating system).

Microsoft has been criticized for holding too hard on to Windows and not presenting online applications that might eventually replace Microsoft Office.

However, Microsoft is going to present a new operating system for the Web, for the time being known as “Windows Clouds”, in five weeks time.

Many doubt that this will present a shift from the PC to the cloud. Instead Microsoft will allow for light editing online, and encourage people to do other work “offline”.

You can hear for yourself. This is Steve Ballmer in Oslo Oct 1 2008. Ballmer does, indeed, argue that the future lies in a combination of cloud and local computing. But it is not easy to determin from is presentation what this means in practical terms.

More of Ballmer’s speech over at YouTube. See also: Steve Ballmer: European Search Technology Center Press Conference in Portugal.

Other search engine related news from the Web:

• Image search options with major engines

  Google has just announced via their weblog that it’s now possible to limit image searches to photographs via the advanced search function. (Phil Bradley Oct 1 2008)

• Google Rolls Out New Video, Image Search Features; Tests Banner Ads in SERPs?

  Data that shows the popularity of your videos down to the second. (SE Land Oct 1 2008)

• Stale vs Fresh Document as Defined by Google

  Stale content refers to documents that have not been updated for a period of time (SE Journal Oct 2 2008)

• Steve Ballmer Talks About “Windows Cloud”

  Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer: We need a new operating system designed for the cloud and we will introduce one in about four weeks (Blogoscoped Oct 2 2008)

• Google Blogs & Other “Front Pages” For The Blogosphere

  Google Blog Search has stepped in to bring Techmeme-like organization for all subjects buzzing in the blogosphere. (SE Land Oct 2 2008)

• Who Coined The Term SEO?

  Danny Sullivan: As the person who actually did coin the term Search Engine Optimization back in 1995, I feel uniquely qualified to weigh in on the validity of Gambert’s claim. (Oct 2 2008)

• Google Launches SMS Channels for India: Twitter in Making?

  The service lets you subscribe to news alerts, blog updates and other kinds of information via SMS text messages (PageTraffic Oct 3 2008)

• Google Trends - Malicious Hacker’s Best Friend

  Hackers have started using Google Trends to lure unsuspecting people into a malware trap. (Mashable Oct 3 2008)

• Google Removes Directory Links From Webmaster Guidelines

  Google has dropped two important bullet points from the Google Webmaster Guidelines: links and directories (SE Land Oct 3 2008)

• Two Health Sites Merge to Challenge WebMD

  The Revolution Health Network and Waterfront Media are joining forces to dominate the health space. (SEW Oct 3 2008)

• OMG! Live Search Cashback is Actually Effective!

  New data from Hitwise suggests that Microsoft’s master plan is showing signs of success. (Andy Beal Oct 3 2008)

• Live offering prizes for searching

  Microsoft is getting a little desperate here I think - they’re trying to encourage users by offering gifts. (Phil Bradley Oct 1 2008)

• New Social Search Engine Tusavvy in Beta

  It generates succinct results from the data collected by people instead of machines. (AltSearchEngines Oct 3 2008)

• MSE360, new search engine

  You get a mix of images, web pages, Wikipedia results and weblog results all on one page. (Phil Bradley Oct 3 2008)

• Welcome to the new Dipity- do- da!

  Dipity organizes updates from sites like YouTube, WordPress, Twitter, and 7500 news sites into “channels” on our interactive timeline. (AltSearchEngines Oct 3 2008)

• Accoona dies

  Another search engine beats the dust (Phil Bradley Oct 3 2008)

• Major European Search Engine Network For Sale

  The sale may include several vertical search engines, the core search engine, several different technologies, and about 450 domains. (Christian Nielsen Oct 3 2008)

• Searchme Launches Visual Search Engine For Mobile Devices

  Searchme’s visual search engine delivers results as a browsable list of “pages,” which are actually images of websites that can be viewed before visiting them. (TechCrunch Sept 18 2008)

• What Can Semantic Search Engines Do For YOU?

  Hakia and Powerset are probably two of the most well known self claimed semantic search engines. (Search 1.x Sept 28 2008)

• Exalead’s High Performance Platform: CloudView

  When M. Bourdoncle founded Exalead, he wanted to resolve some of AltaVista’s known weaknesses. (BeyondSearch Oct 5 2008)

• Was the Yahoo/Google deal a ploy to weaken Yahoo?

  Did Google make the deal in bad faith, as an anti-competitive measure to maintain Yahoo’s subordinate position in the marketplace? (BetaNews Oct 3 20