With all the controversy surrounding Google Scholar it is not surprising to see Microsoft launch a counterattack service in the form of Windows Live Academic Search. While Google Scholar gets data by searching the web and is facing a myriad of copyright challenges as a result, the beta launch of the latest Windows Live tool works with publishers to secure rights to provide content for its database. Read all about the launch or visit Windows Live, which is a bit of a jumble at the moment in beta. You have to search for something first before you get a horizontal category bar to appear under the search box. Select 'Academic' and conduct a search of peer-review journals. Looks like there isn't much in there yet but the interface works quite well and gives you an idea of how this type of access might work in the future. With Google trouncing Microsoft in the search stakes at the moment the strategy of getting in bed with the publishers and searching a database of authorised material instead of the wild wild web is a high stakes gamble that might just pay off.