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A seemingly innocuous box on the screen inside the latest MSN instant-messaging program provides a clue to Microsoft's broader strategy in the search business.

The rectangular box, embedded in a preview version of the company's MSN Messenger 7.0, is a search field. Users will be able to launch Internet searches directly from that field, automatically opening a Web browser to display the relevant results on an Internet search site.

And as you've probably guessed, the search site it uses is not Google. (TabServe can make it use Google, though!)

The feature sends people to Microsoft's MSN Search service. In the process, it demonstrates what promises to be one of the Redmond company's main advantages as it tries to come from behind in the search business — its ready access to hundreds of millions of people already using its various types of computer software.