I'm not sure whether this was meant for the general public but you can find some pretty nifty search UI at http://cc.msnscache.com/. To quote Gary who found the page (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/041026-591a)
...1)At the top of the page you'll notice links for Web, News, Image, and PC search. At the moment "PC" links to the MSN toolbar but this could be where they'll offer up some type of desktop search tool.
2) Clicking the green "arrow" next to the search box offers a pull-down menu with different database options. You will not see PC search listed but an option to run a dictionary search.
3) A link to a Spanish language version of the interface (not working).
4) Clicking "Search Builder" offers several "menu driven" advanced search options and one-click ability to add them to your query.
+ Add search terms
+ Limit by Site
+ Backlinks
+ Limit by Region
+ Limit by Language...