We look at the interface and performance of some of the major desktop search contenders.
In part one of this Office Watch series we looked at the possibilities of the new range of desktop searching tools, how the work, what to look for, security implications and pitfalls.
This issue will look at the major contenders for searching your computer files, except for one that gets special treatment.
We originally intended to write about desktop searching briefly, but many readers have written to confirm our own experience – that these tools especially Google Desktop Search make a real difference to the way they use their computer. You often hear boasts about ‘exciting’ technologies but in this case it’s true – the simple ability to quickly find what you want in Office documents and email is worth more than most of the hollow marketing promises.
MICROSOFT WINDOWS INDEXING SERVICE
Let’s get the Windows in-built tool out of way before we talk about the real indexing products. Windows XP and 2000 have an indexing service. It is supposed to speed up searches for file names and also the content of some documents.
In practice the indexing service is a big resources hog … if your computer is slowing down mysteriously it is worth seeing if the Windows Index Service is on. Searches are not noticeably quickened until you drill down to an obscure menu.
Microsoft’s lack of confidence in their own product is demonstrated by their decision not to turn it on by default. Hype aside, they know the indexing service is more trouble than its worth.
To call the Window Indexing Service useless is to denigrate truly useless things throughout the ‘verse.
There’s talk that Microsoft will release a search tool to protect its ground against Google Desktop. The company is going have to do a lot better because they are way behind Google let alone the other products.
LOOKOUT
Lookout is a third-party tool for Outlook and Windows which has been recently purchased by Microsoft. It is available for free download from Microsoft while the company prepares an official branded version. Get it from Microsoft here.
It operates entirely within Outlook, adding a toolbar to your Outlook views. Initial indexing seems fairly unobtrusive with pop-ups appearing from the system tray to let you know what’s happening. However ongoing indexing on our test machine caused the computer to slow to a crawl until the indexing was manually stopped.
Lookout indexes Outlook only plus specified file extensions (txt, doc, html, htm, xls and ppt by default). It also indexes email attachments in those formats. You can specify which folders to index, including network shares.
There’s an impressive range of options including fine-tuning the indexing (including an option to totally rebuild the index each nn days) and word stemming option (so a search for house will also return houses and housing).
Searches can be done from a toolbar in Outlook or an option in the system tray. The most impressive part of Lookout is the ability to save complex searches and also places to search for later use.
For example I was surprised that the default list of places to search did not include the Sent Items folder – but a few moments with the Search Builder and I have it added to the list of places to search.
Search results appear in a separate normal Windows dialog box with one line for each result. If you hover your mouse over a line there’s a tooltip that shows more details. The column headings can be clicked on to re-sort the results and the ‘Restrict to ‘ option lets you quickly narrow down the search by date, location or whatever else you like.
Some Office Watch readers prefer this approach however the general consensus seems to be that the Google display of a relevant abstract of the text is easier to use. I have to say that having used Lookout for a few days I find it more powerful than Google Desktop for searching my enormous Outlook data files.
Lookout seems to have a good indexing system with a thoughtful set of options instead of the one size fits all approach. The search system is good and perhaps more easily configured than others with result displayed sufficiently quickly. However the single line per result display doesn’t really appeal for document searches.
COPERNIC DESKTOP SEARCH
As we mentioned in Office Watch some time ago, the good folks at Copernic got in before Google with their own free tool.
However in our tests it was a nasty resource hog even after the initial indexing was complete, this is balanced against readers who report that the Copernic tool was far less a problem than the Google Desktop! As we said “your mileage may vary”.
Copernic Desktop Search checks more type of files than Google, notably Acrobat files.
There’s a nice search bar that fits into the Windows taskbar.
It’s a free download from copernic.com so you can try it for yourself.
X1
X1 has been around for a lot longer than the other products and that maturity shows in the range of features available.
As well as all the MS Office files and PDF it also scans compressed ZIP files and Outlook contacts. Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora Mail and Netscape mail are indexed as well as archived Outlook PST files, multiple PSTs. The contents of emailed attachments are also indexed.
X1 searches are more comprehensive with easy options to check for date, subject, from etc. The search is done as you type with the results narrowing with each keystroke and there’s an Outlook-like preview pane to view the documents.
There are enterprise versions for searching Exchange public folders and network drives.
X1 is a powerful product and may suit some advanced users. Personally we found the interface clumsy, especially having to switch from Email to Files in different tabs.
WHICH ONE?
As you can probably guess, we’re inclined towards the Google Desktop Search. Despite it being in beta and the current lack of support for some essential file types it has a direct simplicity in front of a powerful search engine.
Lookout is good for searching Outlook. Even if you don’t use it for anything else, it’s a free replacement for the glacial crawl of the in-built Outlook Find option.
Sadly none of the products support Microsoft OneNote – perhaps the OneNote team would care to help all the searching products to fill this gap?
If Google Desktop Search doesn’t do it for you, then there’s free trials of both Copernic Desktop and X1 that you can try before you buy. Lookout is a free download from the new owners, Microsoft.
One thing is for sure, after using any of these products you won’t go back to the sluggish offerings of Office or Windows – even at gunpoint.
In part three we’ll look at Google Desktop which has quickly become the most popular desktop searching tool – and with good reason.
See Also
- Demon of Writing in the 21st century
- Is there a way to only search Outlook attachments?
- OneNote and alternatives
- Office 2007 updates for Windows Search
- Windows Search 4 is barely ready for beta testing
- Vista, Outlook and indexing
- Microsoft’s Desktop Search revealed
- Desktop Searching – Part 3
- Desktop Searching – Part 1
