Search Is Finally Here
Possibly one of the biggest advantages Vista will have over previous versions of Windows is its desktop search features. From the beginning, Microsoft has been touting these improved search features, but up until now, they've only been promises. This version turns on search, and the more I used it, the better it looked. It's fast, it's built into everything, it's context sensitive, and it lets you easily create saved searches, which is a big timesaver. There are some issues with it, as I'll explain, but to a great extent it fulfills Microsoft's initial promises.
Search has been integrated into every level of the operating system, and it has been done in a very intelligent way. A search box appears when you click on the Start button; simply type in your search term and Vista returns results literally as you type.
 Search is finally here, and it's just about everything that Microsoft promised -- it's fast, it's flexible, and it lets you save your searches. Click image to enlarge. |
Similarly, Windows Explorer has a search box in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen. Here's where the true power of search starts to come into play. Search is context-sensitive, so you'll search only within the folder and subfolders of your current location. This not only makes it easier to quickly find files, but it merges searching with browsing in a clever way, because you can literally search as you browse.
Windows Explorer also includes a Search Pane that you can turn on and off. The pane lets you filter your results by file type, so you can view results only for e-mails, documents, pictures, music, and in many other ways -- even by e-mail attachments. And to show how much Microsoft believes in TV-PC convergence, you can even filter your search results to show TV shows you've recorded that match your results. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but it's in there.
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• Better User Account Control • Search Is Finally Here • Improved Firewall, Fit And Finish • There's Still Work To Be Done |
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Another useful aspect: search looks through metadata associated with each of your files. So if you searched for Mozart, you'd be able to find a Mozart symphony and a portrait of Mozart -- and a recorded TV show, for that matter -- if that information is included in the metadata.
If you find yourself regularly doing the same searches over and over, you'll appreciate the ability to save a search by simply clicking the Save Search button. Whenever you browse using Windows Explorer, that search will show up in the Searches folder. And it's a living search -- so if you save a search for Mozart, whenever you add more of Mozart's music to your PC, that music will show up in your Mozart search folder.
Vista shares a common index with 2007 Microsoft Office's search, so when you do a search in Vista, you'll be able to search in Outlook, for example. And Vista search will also be able to display preview thumbnails of Office documents -- you'll see the actual picture and text from the document right in the thumbnail.
This isn't to say that search is perfect, because there's a considerable chance for confusion. Vista can actually search in two different ways on your PC -- it can either search your index or your computer. Searching the computer takes considerably more time, and may return different results than just the index. So when searching, one should always choose the "Search the Index" option.
