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Searching your File System

Overview

With the amount of data we store on our computers increasing all the time, being able to effectively find files and data is critical. Both operating systems have built-in methods to assist in locating files. In addition to XP's built-in search functionality, Microsoft provides a separate search tool called Windows Desktop Search (WDS), which is available for free download either by itself, or as part of the MSN Toolbar Suite. This section will compare OS X's built-in search technology (called Spotlight) to Windows XP's built-in search and Windows Desktop Search.

Both operating systems have system-wide keyboard shortcuts for quick access to their find/search methods. OS X's keyboard shortcut is -space, while XP's is Win-F. Both operating systems also have keyboard shortcuts for searching within the current application: OS X's keyboard shortcut is -F, while XP's is ctrl-F. In Explorer, typing ctrl-F allows you to search within the current Explorer window.

Mac OS X

Apple's built-in search technology is called Spotlight. You can access Spotlight by clicking its icon in the upper-right corner of your screen. After an initial indexing period, you can begin searching. Start typing, and your search results will appear as-you-type:

The top results of your search are displayed in the Spotlight search menu, sorted by kind. To view all of your search results, click "Show All." This brings up a separate window which lists all of your search results, along with additional sorting and viewing options.

You can view your results ungrouped (flat list), or you can group and filter your results by:

• Kind
• Date
• People

Within a group, you can sort by:

• Name
• Date
• Kind
• People

You can then filter your search results to files located:

• Everywhere
• In your Home folder
• On specific drives

Each group of items in the results window can be expanded and collapsed via the disclosure triangle next to the title of each group. Click the information icon next to any file in your search results, and it will display information relevant to the particular file, such as image dimensions, date of an iCal event, or preview of the item. You can also work with the files in your search results; for example, images can be viewed as a standard list, as thumbnail previews, or in a full screen slideshow complete with controls.

Search selected text in any application

Highlight any word or phrase in an application, control-click, and choose "Search in Spotlight." A Spotlight results window will display with search results for the selected word or phrase.

Search in any Finder window

Search fields are built into the upper-right corner of every Finder window. Begin typing, and your search results start appearing as-you-type.

There are three different ways to view your search results in the Finder:

• Icon view: Displays your search results as icons
• List view: Displays your results as a list with multiple columns of file information. You can sort your results by any column in this view
• Group view: Groups items by kind. This view behaves exactly like the full Spotlight Results window

The path to a selected file is shown at the bottom of the search results window

Double-click any folder in the path view to open that folder. Drag a file or files from your search results onto any of the folders in the path view to move those items to that location.

Search System Preferences

Not sure where a specific setting resides in System Preferences? Start typing in the search box in the upper-right corner of the window, and preferences that pertain to your search will highlight. The preference pane most likely to contain what you're looking for will have a sharp spotlight overlaid on it, while other panes pertaining to your search term will have softer lights. A drop-down menu will appear with additional similar matches.

System Preferences is smart enough to handle similar terms like "WiFi," "wireless," and "Airport." It even knows Windows terminology — for instance, searching for "wallpaper" will bring you to the Desktop & Screensaver Pane, even though OS X refers to "wallpaper" as a "desktop picture." In addition, you can search for preference panes and their accompanying terms from the global Spotlight menu, and they will appear in their own "System Preferences" group in your results.

Other search features

Spotlight searching has been integrated into many different areas of OS X. Many applications, for example, contain their own Spotlight search field to search just their specific content (such as iTunes, Font Book, iCal, Keychain Access, Safari, and Address Book). Open and save dialogs also sport search boxes, simplifying the task of finding files and locations in the middle of a workflow. Preview allows Spotlight searching within PDFs.

Performing a Spotligh search within Mail

When appropriate, search boxes have contextual menus to help you refine your search. For example, Font Book's contextual search menu helps you select search criteria for your fonts.

Windows XP

Microsoft provides two methods of basic searching: Windows XP's built-in search, and Windows Desktop Search.

Built-in Search

Click the Search button in the Explorer toolbar to invoke XP's search, or right-click on any folder and select "Search" to search the contents of that folder. Once you invoke a search, you are presented with the following window:

Select what type of item you're looking for. There are a few broad categories, some of which are somewhat confusing (why are printers, computers, and people grouped into the same category?). The "All Files and Folders" search is the most powerful option.

Each of the initial choices present a different customized search, with options specific to said search (such as the documents search shown below).

The All Files and Folders search allows you to search by: 

1. Name: You can enter either part or all of the filename



2. Contents: You can search the contents of documents for particular keywords or text strings, as well as any metadata, such as author. For example, searching for "Dan" would present you with all files that list him as the author

3. Date: You can filter your results by when the files were last modified. You can select a general time period, or specify an exact date range to refine your results even further



4. Filesize: You can filter your results by what size the files are. Again, this is similar to the settings for date — you can select a general size, or specify an exact filesize range



5. Advanced: XP also provides some other advanced search options. You can specify whether or not you want XP to include any subfolders in the directory you're currently searching; if you want XP to search its own system-related folders; and/or the exact type of file you're searching for

   

XP's search contents can be viewed just like any other folder (although you cannot enable grouping). This proves to be useful, since you can sort by any metadata that Windows Explorer can normally display.

Sorting search results by image dimensions

XP's search, without indexing, can also search user-supplied metadata; however, its reliability is inconsistent.

Windows Desktop Search (WDS)

Windows Desktop Search is available as a free download for Windows XP. Once installed, you can access it in a few different ways:

1. Deskbar: The Deskbar is a small toolbar attached to your Windows taskbar. Results appear as-you-type in the WDS Deskbar results window, and appear categorized in much the same manner as Groups view appears in any Explorer window (you can also move and/or resize this window, and it will remember its position and size when you reopen it). Hovering over any file will pop up a tooltip with various bits of information. Click any file to open it (a right-click will open up the file's "regular" context menu - the same one that you would see in Windows Explorer). Click more... to bring up full search results (covered later)



2. The WDS Icon: Double-click the magnifying glass icon in the system notification area to open up a full search within Windows Explorer. You can also right-click the icon to select various WDS options

3. MSN Toolbar: This toolbar docks into any Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer window. You can enter search terms which then perform a full search:

WDS Full Search

All previously mentioned methods of searching using WDS provide an ability to bring up a "full search." Searches are opened up within a familiar Windows Explorer window. The window contains a search field at top, with various filtering options underneath. Results are displayed on the left in a Details-style view with columns, while a preview pane is located at right. Selecting a file will preview its contents in the right-hand pane. Double-clicking on a file will open it.

The preview pane itself is rather powerful. The following files can be previewed directly in the full search window:

• Emails (from Outlook Express or Microsoft Outlook)
• Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)
• PDFs (requires Adobe Reader to be installed)
• Text documents (.rtf, etc.)
• Videos (.wmv, .mpeg, .avi, etc.)
• Images (.bmp, .gif, .jpeg, .png, etc.)

In addition, when previewing images, WDS will show you smaller thumbnails of other images located in the same folder. This saves you the trouble of having to open the image's parent folder first — surrounding images are shown directly in the preview pane.

Conclusion

XP's built-in search works fine for simple searching, though it is severly limited in comparison to Spotlight and Windows Desktop Search. Both Spotlight and WDS are fairly powerful, though Spotlight bests WDS in its ubiquity and system integration. Spotlight is undoubtedly faster than XP's built-in search, and comparable in speed to WDS. Apple smartly places search boxes in the upper-right corner of many application windows (as well as open/save dialogs) for context-appropriate, as-you-type searches. Windows Desktop Search — although a worthy replacement of XP's built-in search — is unfortunately a separate download.

Mac OS X: 9
Windows XP: 4 (8)

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