NEW YORK:Microsoft has introduced a program that lets users view the night sky online and advanced search options to step up its competition with Google.

The Worldwide Telescope software combines imagery from telescopes on the ground and in space to display pictures of the universe, according to Rick Rashid, a Microsoft vice president.

The programme will be available in the first half of this year, Redmond said. It has features similar to the Google Sky programme, which also offers interactive views of the universe.

Microsoft is competing with Google for attention from search engine users and online advertisers.

The company also showed more advanced search engine models that will let groups of people collaborate on web searches and assist users whose searches are interrupted, the statement said.

Google has almost six times as many internet search users, according to researcher ComScore. Microsoft is trying to narrow the gap with an unsolicited bid for search engine Yahoo!.

Microsoft also unveiled a prototype operating system called Singularity at the company's TechFest 2008, its annual innovation event.

The software has a simpler design than current operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, allowing developers to create more stable programs, the company said.

Microsoft is counting on the software, which isn't meant to replace its commercial operating system, to foster research in programming languages and tools.