Windows Support Chat

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Tuesday, 30 May 2006

A Vista on Desktop Search

Posted on 16:07 by Unknown
It's the end of May 2006, and Microsoft have recently released the new Beta 2 test version of the Vista operating system (a.k.a. "Windows NT 6.0"). If you're short of reading matter, here's a link to the Windows Vista Beta 2 Product Guide available as either a mere 60MB Word document; alternatively in Microsoft's new XPS format, viewable in Vista or the free XPS reader (which I couldn't locate).

Good luck to Microsoft, they'll need it since it seems Vista still needs significant clean-up work done to address various issues like the ones mentioned at longhornblogs.com (notebook PC running hot, low battery life, driver problems, large disk space consumption, etc). They have four or five months to clean it all up before they get to the Release To Manufacturing stage late this year (in order for product launch early in 2007). It looks like they'll need every day of beta testing to sort out the myriad driver problems, and others. I'm glad that it's not me!

Windows NT4.0 operating system suffered badly from failures (the infamous "Blue Screen Of Death - BSOD") caused by poorly-written device drivers. With its successor Windows 2000 ("Windows NT 5.0") Microsoft introduced a device driver validation program, and that seemed to markedly improve the reliability. My experience is that Windows XP ("Windows NT 5.1") improved on that again, to the point where BSOD happens very occasionally (a few times per year), so well done Microsoft!

At this late stage in the Vista beta cycle, it seems curious if not inexcusable that device manufacturers are not rushing to update their device drivers and ensure that they're all included in the betas. (See Vista Beta 2: The Return of Driver Hell and Driver Hell Avoided... For Now )

For me, with the sorts of things I mostly do, Windows XP works quite well and Office 2003 has far, far more functionality than I need. While I rushed to install Windows XP at the earliest opportunity, I'm not yet sure if there's a convincing argument to do the same with Vista (and the same for Office 2007, even though it has some nice usability improvements). I expect that corporates will be even more reticent. Interesting times ahead for Microsoft to convince the vast masses to upgrade. It will be a hard sell. I wish them well.

If Vista (and Office 2007) prove to be so compelling enough to justify the upgrade costs (money, time, effort, learning curve, frustration) then we may all have benefited. Time will tell. From what I've seen and read so far, I'm happy to stick with Windows XP for quite a while because it's very reliable and "good enough" for what I want to do.

Here's a review by the CRN Test Center Windows Vista Beta 2: An Improvement?

And yet another one, by Dr Dobb's Journal: Windows Vista Beta 2: Great Search, Improved Security, Hardware Snags This review has a glowing report on the new built-in search capabilities of Vista, and if it's as good as they say then this alone might convince me to do an early switch from XP to Vista. And here's the reason ...

MY QUEST FOR DESKTOP SEARCH:
Over the past year or so, I've been testing or researching (via demo or reading) a number of "desktop search" products for personal "power user" activities. These have included: Copernic Desktop Search, Blinkx (no longer available for download, it seems), X1, Intellext Watson, dtSearch, ISYS, Verity Ultraseek). I wanted to discover the "best" one that:

  • Is free, or quite inexpensive.
  • Allows its index to be stored other than on the C: drive (to keep the C; drive as small as possible, for backup/recovery purposes). Since I have well over 10GB of files to index (more than 5GB of IBM Redbooks PDF files alone), this means an index size of considerably more than 1GB (perhaps even in excess of 2GB), which is definitely something to keep well clear of the C: drive.
  • Does not crash when indexing files of all types (Copernic and dtSearch failed this test badly, and I was unhappy to waste time debugging their indexer engines)
  • Makes it easy to select the drives/folders/filetypes that are to be indexed (no tiny, inconvenient, fixed-size windows that have to be once for each choice).
  • Allows you to set indexing to run at low priority so as not to interfere with other desktop activities.
I was a bit surprised myself about it, but for me the winner out of all these was Windows Desktop Search (MSN version is here, Enterprise version is here) in conjunction with a range of free Ifilter add-ins from Citeknet to handle PDF files, ZIP files, etc (see also: More MSN Search Toolbar Search Add-ins ). You could do far worse than this combination. Feel free to contact me if you want to find out more details about my experiences with the various desktop serch products that I tested.

If you're interested in desktop search, then take a look at this recent Dr. Dobb's Portal article: True Desktop Search - "Finding what you want when you want it is often easier said than done. Luckily the lines between the desktop and the Web are blurring—and the race is on for the best desktop search tool."
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home
View mobile version

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • I was going to delay writing this, but here it is anyway …
    What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy?    ANSWER: I don’t know, and I don’t care! It’s been one of those days for me, ...
  • The premise is … I’m getting even madder
    I was reading this IBM Redbook today, and it didn’t make a good first impression: I really love IBM Redbooks, but not at all the way...
  • "Simple Signer" - Freeware tool to easily sign Lotus Notes databases
    This is a deliberately simple tool enabling you to select any Lotus Notes database -- local, or on a Lotus Domino server -- and then to sign...
  • Which one is "bigger" -- Microsoft or IBM?
    There's an IT industry debate that has been going on for a decade or more now, about whether or not " The mainframe is dead." ...
  • Another weird LotusScript compiler problem
    I had barely told you about a LotusScript compiler error that I had a few days ago (see The curious case of the "Name previously decla...
  • Get knotted!
    Hey, you might find any topic discussed on this blog! These days, I tend to dress very formally and don't have all that much use for th...
  • How to fix Eudora when the spell checker doesn't want to remember added words
    I started using Eudora as my mail client way back in 1993 or thereabouts. I still use Eudora to this day; it's not perfect, but has many...
  • How to install CDBurnerXP (and WinSCP) without Open Candy
    CDBurnerXP is free and very good software for burning CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray disks, but unfortunately the default installer installs OpenC...
  • Hot topic? A new ice age is coming (eventually)
    My science/engineering background is bubbling to the surface again. I’ve just examined Burt Rutan’s presentations and highly recommend them...
  • Life Begins at Requirements (not at 40)
    "Few people have the same notion of what requirements are and where they fit into the big picture" writes Richard M. Marshall, in ...

Categories

  • Add-ons
  • Adobe Reader
  • AJAX
  • Application Platform
  • Architecture
  • AS/400
  • Asia
  • Australia
  • Bad Software
  • Browser
  • Browser Share
  • Bug
  • Bushfire
  • Business
  • Chemistry
  • China
  • Coding
  • Communication
  • Communities of Interest
  • Crossword
  • Crosswords
  • Curiosity
  • Device Drivers
  • DLL hell
  • Documentation
  • Dragon
  • Durian
  • Ecosystems
  • Error Messages
  • Eudora
  • Extensions
  • Facetiousness
  • Failure
  • Firefox
  • FOSS
  • Freelance
  • Freeware
  • Fun
  • Heat Wave
  • Humor
  • i Series
  • IBM
  • IBM Systems
  • IE
  • Image resource manipulation
  • Innovation
  • Installation
  • Internet Explorer
  • Intranet
  • Japan
  • Koala
  • Linux
  • Live Writer
  • Lotus Domino
  • Lotus Notes
  • Lotus Notes Lotus Domino
  • Lotus Software
  • LotusScript
  • Mainframe
  • Melbourne (Australia)
  • Microsoft
  • Multiple
  • Natural Disaster
  • NaturallySpeaking
  • Nigerian 419 fraud
  • Notes Mail
  • NotesTracker
  • Nuance
  • Open Source
  • OpenNTF.ORG
  • Patents
  • POSS
  • PowerPoint
  • Pragmatism
  • Presenter
  • Print Server
  • Project Management
  • Pronunciation
  • Proprietary
  • Registry
  • Releases
  • Research and Development
  • RIA
  • SDMS
  • Security
  • Service Oriented Architecture
  • SNA
  • SOA
  • Software
  • Software Package
  • speech recognition
  • Spell Checking
  • Standards
  • System i
  • System/38
  • TCP/IP
  • Technology
  • Usability
  • Usability Testing
  • Versions
  • Victoria
  • Weather
  • Web 2.0
  • Web 3.0
  • Web Design
  • Web Pi
  • Web Services
  • Webshots.com
  • Windows
  • Windows 7 backgrounds
  • Words
  • z Series

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (25)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  June (7)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  April (7)
    • ►  March (2)
    • ►  February (4)
  • ►  2012 (25)
    • ►  December (7)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (3)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  June (6)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (2)
    • ►  March (1)
  • ►  2011 (20)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  July (2)
    • ►  June (2)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (2)
    • ►  January (5)
  • ►  2010 (69)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (3)
    • ►  September (5)
    • ►  August (13)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (10)
    • ►  February (8)
    • ►  January (10)
  • ►  2009 (41)
    • ►  December (5)
    • ►  November (6)
    • ►  October (5)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (2)
    • ►  February (9)
    • ►  January (5)
  • ►  2008 (16)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (3)
    • ►  August (2)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  February (1)
    • ►  January (2)
  • ►  2007 (39)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  July (5)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (11)
    • ►  March (5)
    • ►  February (8)
    • ►  January (4)
  • ▼  2006 (98)
    • ►  December (8)
    • ►  November (25)
    • ►  October (6)
    • ►  September (6)
    • ►  August (5)
    • ►  July (6)
    • ►  June (16)
    • ▼  May (17)
      • A Vista on Desktop Search
      • Leery about Theory?
      • The Distributed Computing Fallacies
      • Migration between Microsoft Office and OpenOffice ...
      • Being objective about database replication
      • Well I'll be dammed! ... Or, Dammed Pedantry?
      • Notes Presenter -- Let's eat our own dog food
      • Magnetic Tape is alive and kicking
      • (Additional software license may be required) !!!
      • Back to the Future (with AJAX)
      • Comparing CRM software offerings
      • A Plain Warning
      • What is a "service" and what exactly is SOA?
      • Our tangled web of expertise
      • Business model of Web 2.0 startups
      • How to improve a "creepy mess"
      • Russ Olsen's Five Truths About Code Optimization
    • ►  April (2)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (3)
  • ►  2005 (38)
    • ►  November (5)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  August (10)
    • ►  July (14)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (1)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile