After more than two years of development, Microsoft has finally announced that it is ready to unleash their new version of the MSN search engine. There is no question that they are positioning themselves to take on Google directly. My question is what are they going to do in order to deprogram all of the Google fans out there?

Microsoft Corp.’s Internet search engine, in the works for about two years, is ready for its big-time debut. Microsoft is announcing on Tuesday that the search engine it built from scratch is taking center stage at the company’s Web portal, MSN.com, which previously had relied on search technology from rival Yahoo Inc.

“The whole goal with our new search service is to deliver answers faster to users,” said Mark Kroese, MSN’s general manager of information services product management. “In a world where the search engine user experience is getting lots of links but no answers, we’re really focused on giving users quick answers to their questions.”

Since November, Microsoft’s search engine had been in a public test — or beta — mode in a special section of the MSN.com portal, while the main search section continued to be powered by the Yahoo technology.

The new MSN Search powered by the Microsoft search engine will let users search not only Web sites but also content from Microsoft’s Encarta encyclopedia and MSN Music, Kroese said.

MSN Search also features a variety of tools to let users adjust searches, such as narrowing results by language or domain. The search engine also has the ability to deliver search results from a specific geographical area, a feature called “search near me.”