[Review] Windows Desktop Search

[madmatt]

Thank you for the head's up.

 

[kcnychief]

Any comparison on this product versus Vista features Kunal?

 

[NetRyder]

Any comparison on this product versus Vista features Kunal?

Was at work for most of the day...haven't had a chance to try it out yet to make a comparison.

From what I understand, they now share the same indexing engine, but the frontend/UI is different. In Vista, it's much better integrated with the system...search boxes everywhere. In XP, it'll still feel like an add-on app (but a very good one, mind you).

 

[Khayman]

x64 version... Mmmm .. must install..once i get home

 

[NetRyder]

You know...I'm actually thinking of reverting one of my machines (not sure which one yet) back to XP, so I might start using this again. It's nice staying on the bleeding edge with Vista and all, but with coursework starting again next month, it's going to get a little crazy wiping out and rebuilding three machines everytime there's a new build.

 

[kcnychief]

WDS 3.0 Final is out now

Download WDS XP x86 HERE
Download WDS XP x64 HERE
Download WDS Server 2003 x86HERE
Download WDS Server 2003 x64 HERE

 

[NetRyder]

WDS 3.0 Final is out now

Download WDS XP x86 HERE
Download WDS XP x64 HERE
Download WDS Server 2003 x86HERE
Download WDS Server 2003 x64 HERE

Excellent. Going to update my Tablet.

 

[madmatt]

Thank you Derek. Downloading now.

 

[American Zombie]

Tried Windows Desktop Search and found it lacking in a few ways compared to Copernic Desktop Search. Unfortunately, it only indexes Outlook/Outlook Express -- unless user installs a plugin. (For instance, if you use Eudora or Thunderbird, you need a plugin; however, that plugin only works with versions 2.5 and 2.6 of WDS.) I tried to install the Eudora/Mozilla/Thunderbird plugin and it said I needed to install WDS to install the plugin -- but WDS was already installed! Copernic, on the other hand, supports Eudora and Thunderbird as well as Outlook or Outlook Express without the need to install any plugins. I also found the "refine search" of WDS somewhat lacking compared to Copernic. If you go to the screenshots page of Copernic then click on the icons to the right of the main picture you will see how much you can refine search in Copernic. I could not find this many refinements in WDS but maybe they are there. For now I am gonna have to give WDS a 2nd place finish to Copernic. Maybe if WDS gets plugins working and some better refinements to how/when/where you can search I will change my mind.

 

[Grandmaster]

Sweet! Thanks for the reminder

 

[American Woman]

Tried Windows Desktop Search and found it lacking in a few ways compared to Copernic Desktop Search.

Agree with Zombie. One thing that WDS seems to lack is the ability (and this seems true of some other search type utitities I've tried, as well) is the ability of found results to HIGHLIGHT the found words in the Preview Screen (and take you right to them). Yes, you can manually "find" the words AGAIN, once you get a preview up (info found in the HELP says to click on FIND and then type the words)....but wait...you've already done THAT to get you there...so that's a redundant effort...but doing those two additional steps will FINALLY take you to the words themselves that you might be seeking. whew.

In contrast, with Copernic Desktop Search, if I want to find the words "Joe's Garden" somewhere on my desktop (and my Eudora email) I just type those words once, and the preview screen shows each instance of those words, highlighting the words on the preview screen.

I was hoping WDS would be as good or better than my much used Copernic, but lacking finding the searched for words and phrases instantly, I find this search tool less useful than Copernic.

 

[madmatt]

Windows Desktop Search 3.01 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (KB917013)

Windows XP (32-bit): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...de-49b9-4e69-9227-2206277ab7c9&DisplayLang=en
Windows XP (64-bit): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...51-8fa6-436e-b0f8-704f1e82ff4f&DisplayLang=en
Windows Server 2003 (32-bit): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...b4-d396-4986-a1bb-793122fcc65d&DisplayLang=en
Windows Server 2003 (64-bit): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...83-a025-4487-95a9-b2777de85a4c&DisplayLang=en