Ever feel like you can not find that file you were working on yesterday? Or you misplaced the family vacation photos on the computer? Well this article will not be about organization, which is important in its own right. Instead, for today’s Freeware Frenzy, I’ll be pitting two desktop search programs against each other to see which emerges as the best. So sit back and read "Desktop Search Head to Head: Windows Desktop Search vs. X1 Enterprise Client."
Windows Desktop Search
Keep in mind that with all new Microsoft downloads, you will need to pass the Windows Validation process before downloading the program. But of course your Windows copy is legit.
After downloading and beginning the install process, agree to the license and installation starts immediately. The entire process took maybe one minute. When finished, Windows Desktop Search (referred to as WDS from now on) will let you know that it will begin to index your hard drive so searches will run quickly. The indexer can be paused if you need the full power of the system, but I let it go for awhile. For the curious, the process used 5-10% of my CPU time and a fair amount of memory, around 45,000Kb. The Indexer Status showed that it had indexed 5,164 items in about four minutes. By default, WDS indexes your Documents and Settings file, the default home for Documents, Photos and Music in Windows, as well as Outlook. WDS excludes the Application Data and User file, but you can modify the indexing locations to include any folders you wish. This is especially necessary if you do not adhere to Microsoft’s organization methods and store your various data elsewhere. The included options are sparse, but also let you rebuild the index and change the included file types.
The main evidence that WDS has installed at all is the small search box you’ll find on your desktop toolbar. This is called the Deskbar. As you type in your query, Windows immediately brings in results. The results narrow down as you continue to type in more letters. The best results will show first, so after typing "Bahamas" my vacation photos popped up. Underneath these results will be everything else related to your search, perhaps a document on what to pack or an e-mail travel reservation. For a bit more interesting look at things, you can click on the magnifying glass to open the full WDS screen. This lets you browse results, check out previews, browse folders, and narrow the results by file type: Docs, Photos, Music, E-Mail, etc. Finally you can use desktop search to search the web as well, using, you guessed it, Windows Live Search (MSN).
X1 Enterprise Client
X1′s installation process is a bit more involved then Microsoft’s. Agree to the license, choose the install location, whether or not to create a desktop icon, launch at startup, upload usage statistics, and to install for either the current or any user. Choose a Typical or Custom install (basically just choosing the Deskbar and/or Outlook toolbar). I chose Typical. Now we see some partnering with Yahoo!; choose to install the Yahoo! Toolbar, homepage or search engine for IE. I unchecked all of these to keep my system junk-ware free, and then the installation began. This took a moment longer then WDS, but the X1 Deskbar seemed quite at home next to Windows’ Deskbar, nudging it aside to make room.
X1 eschews the popup results of WDS, instead launching the full application. I ran the same search as I had in WDS, which first popped up under the E-Mail heading, and inexplicably, clicking on the Pictures tab erased my search. Clicking on Files however did show my vacation photos. So perhaps the X1 deskbar needs a bit of work. Once inside the app however, you can easily search under various headings such as E-Mail, Pictures, Music, Documents and Contacts. Kudos to X1 for including not only Microsoft products but also Eudora, Mozilla and Lotus Notes in the Index. You can narrow your search by file type, date/time and size. There is a familiar list of results on the left with a preview pane on the right. While X1 seemed to present more options and details, I couldn’t help but feel it was overly cluttered. To be fair, as an "enterprise" client, this program is geared toward the business user. But even still, X1 seemed to bury me in files, and even after finding a specific item, I still felt there was much too much going on onscreen. Overall though, for people who need extensive customization for a personalized experience, X1 is probably for you.
As this is a head to head review, I must choose one program as superior. I give the nod to Windows Desktop Search. I know many folks give Windows and Microsoft a hard time, but Microsoft really has done this right. It is simple and functional. While the full application is great, I found the simple deskbar just what I could get used to when I am searching for files in the vastness of my hard drive. The deskbars themselves tell the story. X1′s has four buttons and a drop down menu; WDS has only one button. Check out the two programs for yourselves at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917013 and http://www.x1.com/products/xds.html
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