Yahoo! Inc. has officially unveiled the Yahoo! Desktop Search as a beta release . Touting the release, Jeff Weiner, senior VP of Yahoo said, “The launch of Yahoo! Desktop Search Beta further demonstrates our commitment to creating the best search experience for users. We believe that searching the desktop is an important part of the broader search experience and will serve as the platform to provide unique, search-enabled applications that span the user's hard drive, the Yahoo! network and the Web."

The company said the introduction of Yahoo! Desktop Search Beta is the first of many upcoming planned product releases in search. Yahoo! partnered with X1 Technologies, a provider in the desktop search space for powering the search initiative.

"We are pleased to work with Yahoo! on powering their desktop search initiative," said Josh Jacobs, president, X1 Technologies. "In partnership with Yahoo!, we can ensure that the largest audience on the Web can take advantage of this technology while businesses, both large and small, can turn to X1 for enterprise desktop search solutions."

X1 Desktop Search is currently in use at companies ranging from the Fortune 100 to small businesses that depend on ready access to essential information. X1 Technologies is headquartered in Pasadena, California and is a network company of Idealab, a creator and operator of technology businesses.