MS buys Lookout and Google release Picasa

Microsoft has bought Lookout which is a two-person startup whose software
plugs into Outlook.

According to the Los Angeles Times: "Lookout's software installs a search
box in Microsoft's Outlook e-mail program that lets users find things
anywhere on the computer desktop. But analysts predict that the Redmond,
Wash.-based company will move that search box into its Internet Explorer
browser, letting users search the Web and the contents of their PCs
simultaneously."

Google is reportedly extending its reach to the desktop starting with
www.Picasa.com, a picture-album tool it started giving away for free only
days after acquiring the company.