Infoseek and Symantec aim to simplify Web searching

Infoseek and Symantec have announced products for users of Windows 95 and Windows NT aimed at making searching the Internet a faster, less frustrating experience. Infoseek's Quicksearch, for Netscape Navigator, offers users a search box inserted at the top of their screen that enables them to conduct searches without having to click over to a search page.

The search box sits alongside the directory buttons at the top of the screen. Users can customise their searches by selecting the World Wide Web, Infoseek Select Sites, Usenet News groups, a company directory or email addresses. The service, for use with Microsoft's Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems, is available immediately at no charge from Infoseek's World Wide Web page at http://www.infoseek.com/.

Symantec's Internet FastFind allows Internet users to search several of the biggest Internet search engines simultaneously, and updates the user of changes to selected Web sites, FTP and network sites. Results are then merged, prioritised and presented in a single Web page. A feature called NetFileFind searches for a specific file on the Internet, returns a list of FTP sites where the file can be found, then allows the user to drag and drop the file into their local system.

Internet FastFind is expected to be available on September 9, priced at US$49.95, and supports Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator browsers, Symantec officials say.