Cairo was eventually shelved, but the content indexing capabilities would go on to be included as a standard component of later Windows desktop and server operating systems, starting with Windows 2000, which includes Indexing Service 3.0.

Indexing Service is still included with Windows Server 2008 but is not installed or running by default.

[5] Comprehensive searching is available after initial building of the index, which can take up to hours or days, depending on the size of the specified directories, the speed of the hard drive, user activity, indexer settings and other factors.

The search option available from the Start menu on the Windows Taskbar will use the indexing service if it is enabled and will even accept complex queries.

Queries can also be performed using either the Indexing Service Query Form in the Computer Management snap-in of Microsoft Management Console, or, alternatively, using third-party applications such as 'Aim at File' or 'Grokker Desktop'.