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J&P Group > J&P InfoSol > Applications > Desktop Search
So far primary focus is for Mac. Created 2009-09-05, last updated 2010-01-14 (adding Find Any File).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_search
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines#Desktop_search_engines
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_indexing
###
| Using Spotlight's Index | Using Own Index | No Index, Raw Search | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | Fast | Fast | Slow |
| AutoComplete | Yes | Possible-Should | No |
| Spotlight, std macOS |
Setting Up
Using
| Using Spotlight's Index | |
|---|---|
| Speed | Fast |
| Handles | |
| -local volumes | |
| -mounted NAS | |
| -offline volumes | |
| Using | |
| 'Instant search' | if search field can be instantaneously brought up, simply through some keyboard configuration, independently of if in Finder or any other application |
| Admin | |
Using Index DB
Using/Search-via Index DB
###
Google Desktop and Google Quick Search Box are also part of Must Haves in our Mac section.
| Spotlight | Google Desktop | Google Quick Search Box (QSB) | Find Any File | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Apple | Thomas Tempelmann | |||
| First release | Apr 2005 (OS X 10.4) |
Oct 2004 (Win) Apr 2007 (Mac) |
Jan 2009 (Mac, preview) | 2008-12-26 | |
| Operating systems | Mac-only | Mac & Win | Mac 10.5 or 10.6 (Win1) |
Mac-only | 1) Via Google Toolbar (per Sep 2009-09-05) |
| Mac OS X 10.6 | Yes | No1 | Yes | Yes | 1) Still not 2010-01-14 (v1.7.0.1877) (Not per 2009-09-05) |
| Install | part of OS X | separate download |
separate download |
separate download |
|
| Background/ Foreground |
Background (hidden) |
?Background (hidden)? |
Normal application (visible) |
Normal application (visible) |
Nicer with background application that isn't always 'in-the-way' when changing between applications but only brough forward by some short-cut keyboard combination. |
| How access | Cmd+Alt+F1 | Cmd Cmd2 | Cmd Cmd2 | Start/bring appl. forward | 1) I.e. need to press 3 keys. 2) I.e. only need to press one key (but twice) - quite much nicer and user-friendly. |
| Index | by Spotlight | Own | Uses Spotlight's1 | None | 1) QSB saves HD space by using Spotlight's index instead of building and maintaining its own (thus also performance improvement, though minor). |
| Actions | No | No | Yes (e.g. open appl.) |
### | |
| Calculations & definitions |
No | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Extendible | No? | # | Yes | No | |
| Search of cached & deleted files |
? | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Pros |
|
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| Cons |
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See also Google Desktop vs. QSB below.
Alfred - https://www.alfredapp.com/
https://www.slant.co/topics/7123/versus/~alfred_vs_find-any-file_vs_quicksilver
DEVONagent Express
DEVONagent Lite
DEVONagent Pro
DEVONthink Personal
DEVONthink Pro
DEVONthink Pro Office
devontechnologies.com/download/products.html.
And EasyFind (below)
Free, v4.9.3 installed, not updated since 2014 but still latest per 2016-12-14 at devontechnologies.com/download/products.html.
http://www.retrotechs.com/2015/09/finding-files-on-a-mac-alternatives-to-spotlight/
(2016-12-14 added as section)
http://www.ctmdev.com/foxtrot/.
FoxTrot Personal - http://www.ctmdev.com/foxtrot/personal_search/
FoxTrot Professional - http://www.ctmdev.com/foxtrot/professional_search/.
Home: http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/, by Thomas Tempelmann - http://www.tempel.org/
"Tembo 2.1 requires macOS 10.10 or later with Spotlight indexing enabled." [houdah.com/tembo/download.html]
http://www.houdah.com/houdahSpot/
"HoudahSpot 4.2 requires macOS 10.10 or later with Spotlight indexing enabled." [houdah.com/houdahSpot/download.html]
LaunchBar - https://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/
Pathological - http://celestialteapot.com/pathological/
Quicksilver - https://qsapp.com/
(Also, more info at wikipedia.)
History
| Rel. | Comments |
| OS X 10.4 Tiger, Apr 2005 | Spotlight is introduced. |
| OS X 10.5 Leopard, Oct 2009 | "With Mac OS X Leopard, Apple introduced some additional features. With Spotlight in Tiger, users can only search devices that are attached to their computers. With Leopard, Spotlight is able to search networked Macs running Leopard (both client and server versions) that have file sharing enabled. A feature called Quick Look has been added to the GUI that will display live previews of files within the search results, so applications do not have to be opened just to confirm that the user has found the right file. The syntax has also been extended to include support for worded boolean operators ("AND", "OR" and "NOT").[8] These variants of the operators are localized; while users that have their System language set to English may use an "AND", German users, for example, would have to use "UND". The character variants work with any system language.[9]" [wikipedia] |
| OS X 10.10, Yosemite, Oct 2014 | "As of OS X 10.10 Yosemite, Spotlight search is completely redesigned. Instead of it acting as a drop-down menu, it is now located in the center of the screen. It does everything the previous version does and more, such as searching Wikipedia, Maps, and other sources." [wikipedia] |
| OS X 10.11 El Capitan, Sep 2015 | "Spotlight is improved with more contextual information such as the weather, stocks, news and sports scores. It is also able to process queries in natural language. For example, users can type "Show me pictures that I took in Yosemite National Park in July 2014" and Spotlight will use that request to bring up the corresponding info.[23]" [OS X 10.11 El Capitan, Sep 2015] "Apple has made some significant to changes to Spotlight, the system search function that pops up in the center of the display when you hit Command+Space. First off, in El Capitan, it doesn’t have to be in the center. As silly as it sounds, you can now freely resize and position the Spotlight box to match your own preferences for the first time. Apple has also bolstered the library of possible search terms to include more transient and informational data, like weather, sports scores or even YouTube and Vimeo video results. You can also make your search queries a lot more casual and Spotlight will understand what you mean. Rather than typing with obtuse filter syntax, you can use natural language queries like ‘email from Joshua last year’ or ‘presentations from last week’. These queries work great, are easy to remember and formulate, and work in apps like Finder and Mail as well as the Spotlight search bar."[9to5mac.com/2015/09/30/os-x-el-capitan-now-available-new-features/] |
| macOS 10.12 Sierra, Sep 2016 | Don't know of any specific changes, have not researched extensively. https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+spotlight+macos+10.12+sierra. |
Been around since Mac OS X 10.4 and is fine for many users. Personally prefer Google's alternatives for a number of reasons:
Main drawback(s):
Older summary, comparison chart (from 2010)
| Application | Description | Uses Index DB |
Volumes | Files | Contents | |
| Spotlight | Part of OS X 10.4, and later | Yes | one only? | Yes | Yes | Start: Cmd+Opt+F or via magnifying glass in menu bar in upper right corner of screen. Config: via System Preferences : Spotlight pref panel (under Personal) |
| Google Desktop | Free download from desktop.google.com/mac | Yes | multiple, configurable | Yes | Yes | Start: Cmd+Cmd, via menubar icon Config: via System Preferences : Google Desktop pref panel (under Other)
Why Use? Personal preference - like the speed, integration with the rest of googles all features (not only searches but conversions, stock quotes, exchange rates, ...) |
| EasyFind | Freeware, by devon-technologies.com/products/freeware/ |
No | multiple, configurable | Yes | No | Start application to find files among *all* files on volume - one or more at the same time. Configuration: some, via application itself.
Why Use? Neither Spotlight nor Google Desktop searches for hidden files, like preferences, Unix-/terminal-level files, ... A tool like EasyFind is an indispensible part of the toolbox.
EasyFind got 4.5 of 5 mouses by MacWorld (2005). |
| Find Any File | Free download from apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/ | No | multiple, configurable | Yes | No | Start application to find files among *all* files on volume - one or more at the same time. Configuration: ? (Preferences below application menu is dimmed...)
Why Use? Neither Spotlight nor Google Desktop searches for hidden files, like preferences, Unix-/terminal-level files, ... A tool like Find Any File is an indispensible part of the toolbox. |
Find Any File - forum: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20081226121954518
(Found when googled www.google.com/search?q=ultimate+find+files+on+mac+os+x)
http://www.macworld.com/products/mac/software/utilities.html
https://www.google.com/search?q=Found+seach+app
"Found is a cool little search tool with some neat tricks"
This site can’t be reached - www.foundapp.com took too long to respond. (2016-12-14)
"Found is a neat new Mac application that wants to be like OS X’s Spotlight, but for all the files you have stored across cloud services, including Dropbox, Google Docs, and Gmail. Currently in beta, Found is aiming for a mid-May release in the Mac App Store, where it will be free." (2012-04-02) [http://venturebeat.com/2012/04/02/new-found-app-is-a-one-stop-search-for-your-files-in-the-cloud/]
"Found Is a Universal Search for Your Mac Hard Drive, Dropbox, Gmail, and Google Drive Files", http://lifehacker.com/5916172/found-is-a-universal-search-for-your-mac-hard-drive-dropbox-gmail-and-google-drive-files (2012-06-06)
Replaced with Google Quick Search Box (QSB) below in Mac OS X 10.6 (Desktop doesn't work in 10.6 per 2009-09-05).
For more on Google Desktop, check out swedeteam.com/google and OAS06010 Google Desktop.
(Also, more info at wikipedia.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=google+desktop+vs+google+quick+search+box
Getting Started : About the Quick Search Box - Google Quick Search Box Help"Google Quick Search Box is an open source search box that allows you to search data on your computer and across the web. " [qsb-mac]
"Google has announced a new Mac-only search project by the name of Quick Search Box. Quick Search Box is hybrid application that indexes files on your Mac and provides Google web searches, all wrapped in an interface that will be very familiar to anyone who’s used the popular Mac application, Quicksilver.
There’s a very good reason for Quick Search Box’s resemblance to Quicksilver — Quicksilver’s creator, Nicholas Jitkoff, is one of the programmers behind Google’s new Quick Search Box.
Before digging into what Quick Search Box offers, it’s worth answering the obvious question: how is this different from Google’s existing search tool in Google Desktop for Mac?
The answer is that Quick Search is like a stripped down version of Desktop, eliminating widgets and other tools to just focus on searching. Quick Search also offers context-sensitive options (à la Quicksilver) that you won’t find in Desktop." [Wired200901]
June 2009:
"Google has released a new Mac application that lets users search both their Macs and the Web in the same window as well as launch applications.
...
It's basically a Googlized front end on Mac OS X's Spotlight search, according to a Web page explaining the difference between Google Desktop and Google Quick Search Box. The main difference between the two Google products is that you can launch applications from the Quick Search Box, which isn't possible in Google Desktop." [CNET20090609]
References:
From Getting Started : Quick Search Box vs. Google Desktop - Google Quick Search Box Help (retrieved 2009-09-05):
Getting Started: Quick Search Box vs. Google DesktopAlthough Google Desktop for Mac and Google Quick Search Box for Mac are very similar, they do have a few notable differences. Here are some unique features that are not shared between the two products:Quick Search Box
Learn more about Quick Search Box Google Desktop
Want to use the silver Quick Search Box instead of the regular black Desktop one? Simply turn off the Desktop Quick Search Box hotkey. Once it's disabled, install the new Quick Search Box from http://www.google.com/quicksearchbox |
(somewhere in the middle...), or via installed application (/Applications/Google Desktop/Google Desktop.app).