Windows Search 4.0 Beta

[BoDEAN]

Just got posted on Download Center :)

KB Article about Windows Search 4

64-bit Vista and Server 2008 version

32-bit Vista and Server 2008 version

32-bit XP 64-bit XP

32-bit Server 2003 64-bit Server 2003

There's a blog post at the Vista Team blog. Be sure and post your feedback!

Seems like another useless program. Why do you even need this? Vista 64 w/ SP1, and I've been able to search for things on my computer since Vista came out.

No excitement here.

[Veedems Veteran]

Seems like another useless program. Why do you even need this? Vista 64 w/ SP1, and I've been able to search for things on my computer since Vista came out.

No excitement here.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is an update to the built in searching tool that you're using.

[BajiRav]

@Brandon,

I continue to have this weird problem with this release as well.

1. I have putty.exe stored in my download folders (most portable apps) - the folder is indexed.

2. I search for "putty" in start menu and highlight + press enter - putty is launched.

3. Immediately if I search for "putty" in start menu, this time putty is already highlighted

4. I press enter but this time instead of launching putty, it opens search results window with putty selected again. :blink:

5. Both times, it is putty.exe and not some "recent" shortcut.

is there any reason why this is happening?

[Imran Hussain]

Wow, it really seems 33% faster, which is great, but it's showing files which i deleted ages ago, in my search results. ( After the re-indexing )

[abcdefg]

There's still not tooltips in deskbar results. :x

Same ugly interface :x

Still tries to open MP3s in WMP instead of default player if I click them in search window. :x

Still asks individually if I want to delete each file when I've selected large bunch of them and pressed DEL. :x

Still can't select "index now" without admin rights. :x

Still better indexer than Copernic or other lousy attempts. :)

Where the @?$2 is drag and drop from deskbar results? Shouldn't that be obvious? :xx

A lot has happened in over a year... :rolleyes::

[Linkinfamous]

There's still not tooltips in deskbar results. :x

Same ugly interface :x

Still tries to open MP3s in WMP instead of default player if I click them in search window. :x

Still asks individually if I want to delete each file when I've selected large bunch of them and pressed DEL. :x

Still can't select "index now" without admin rights. :x

Still better indexer than Copernic or other lousy attempts. :)

Where the @?$2 is drag and drop from deskbar results? Shouldn't that be obvious? :xx

A lot has happened in over a year... :rolleyes::

If you'd payed even the slightest bit of attention to what Brandon said, you'd realize that the vast majority of the changes with this release were behind the scenes stuff.

[abcdefg]

the vast majority of the changes with this release were behind the scenes stuff.

Apart from the UI isn't my complaints about something that is fixed by messing with "behind the scenes stuff"? (whatever that means)

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Seems like another useless program. Why do you even need this? Vista 64 w/ SP1, and I've been able to search for things on my computer since Vista came out.

No excitement here.

This is an update to Vista's built-in search technology. It is not an add-on. In fact, on Vista you are unlikely to notice any differences at all since the UI is unchanged. What you should notice is that it is much faster (33% is actually a very conservative number, in my experience), and also more reliable.

Of course this is a beta / preview release, so you should only install it if you want to give feedback before the final release. That said, as "beta" releases go, this one is very well "cooked."

How much slower will my PC be after I install this.

I'm a bit confused why you would ask that, did you read the update description? The main point of this release it to make your PC faster.

Still tries to open MP3s in WMP instead of default player if I click them in search window. :x

That should not be. It sounds like your default player may not be configured correctly.

It sounds like the rest of your complaints are specific to the XP UI, and all of them seem like things that would be addressed by upgrading to Vista.

[daniel_rh]

This is an update to Vista's built-in search technology. It is not an add-on. In fact, on Vista you are unlikely to notice any differences at all since the UI is unchanged. What you should notice is that it is much faster (33% is actually a very conservative number, in my experience), and also more reliable.

Of course this is a beta / preview release, so you should only install it if you want to give feedback before the final release. That said, as "beta" releases go, this one is very well "cooked."

I'm a bit confused why you would ask that, did you read the update description? The main point of this release it to make your PC faster.

That should not be. It sounds like your default player may not be configured correctly.

It sounds like the rest of your complaints are specific to the XP UI, and all of them seem like things that would be addressed by upgrading to Vista.

Finally somebody that post something real and helpful! and you're right! now the search system in my PC is almost instant in some cases with this update

[daniel_rh]

There's still not tooltips in deskbar results. :x

Same ugly interface :x

Still tries to open MP3s in WMP instead of default player if I click them in search window. :x

Still asks individually if I want to delete each file when I've selected large bunch of them and pressed DEL. :x

Still can't select "index now" without admin rights. :x

Still better indexer than Copernic or other lousy attempts. :)

Where the @?$2 is drag and drop from deskbar results? Shouldn't that be obvious? :xx

A lot has happened in over a year... :rolleyes::

Well, after watching your posts and your signature If you got so many troubles with Windows why not....

1) Trash your PC and buy another one ;))

2) Try Linux or Mac or maybe the most stable OS in the world: DOS 1.0 to 6.0, Novell 1.0 to 4.1, Windows 1.0 :whistle::

3) Just give up from computer world, to avoid you shoot yourself in the future :rolleyes:: Because you sound a lot frustrated

[Glowstick]

That's never been a known issue with Windows Search / WDS. It's been a problem with some competitors, mainly Google who said "it's not a bug, it's a feature!"

Except it was a big issue with WDS. For me and several other people.

Then again, screw Windows and the rest.

[Evolution]

If we won't notice a difference in the interface in Vista, will the engine be used as a patch for Vista later on?

[abcdefg]

1) Trash your PC and buy another one ;)

I'll do that ASAP if you can prove that my problems are because of my hardware and not because of s###-quality software.

2) Try Linux or Mac

I'm already test driving BSD.

(BSOD and BSD so close but so far apart, got that? :D )

3) Just give up from computer world, to avoid you shoot yourself in the future :rolleyes: Because you sound a lot frustrated

I am frustrated. Will M$ give me some $$$ for therapy sessions? They should.

@Brandon

It sounds like the rest of your complaints are specific to the XP UI, and all of them seem like things that would be addressed by upgrading to Vista.

Will you sponsor 2 gigs of memory and new CPU for me? I can buy new MOBO. Good deal, eh?

[George P Global Moderator]

As always, when MS releases something new be it a good thing or not there will always be someone to moan about it.

A 33% performance boost and any gains in reliability and stability are great news to me. Good job guys.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

If we won't notice a difference in the interface in Vista, will the engine be used as a patch for Vista later on?

I'm not sure what you're asking. The UI in Vista makes use of the new engine in that it takes advantage of new query improvements to provide better performance. The difference for me in using the Start Menu search is pretty huge. Considering that I have over 120k items indexed, the speed at which queries come back is pretty amazing.

[Evolution]

Well I mean why call it Windows Search 4.0 in Vista, and not just update the search engine itself through a patch?

Isn't this Windows Desktop Search? If it were just an upgrade to Vista's searching capabilities it would be offered as an update through Automatic updates.

Edited March 29, 2008 by Evolution

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Well I mean why call it Windows Search 4.0 in Vista, and not just update the search engine itself through a patch?

Isn't this Windows Desktop Search? If it were just an upgrade to Vista's searching capabilities it would be offered as an update through Automatic updates.

But they are all the same thing. It is just an upgrade to Vista's search capabilities. Vista shipped with "Windows Search 3.0" - kind of like how XP shipped with DirectX 8.1, but was later upgraded with a "patch" to DirectX 9.0. At least that's how I see it.

[Evolution]

Ah, ok sorry, thought it was just a renaming of Windows Desktop Search... which is an external app.

[spaceelf]

I'd love to install this but I just reinstalled Windows to get rid of all the pain from the tens of betas I installed along the road, so I think I'll pass for now. Still cool though.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Ah, ok sorry, thought it was just a renaming of Windows Desktop Search... which is an external app.

Well it is a renaming of WDS on XP. On Vista we've been calling it "Windows Search" even though it's the same thing. The XP version is just the downlevel redistributable of the same technology built-in to Vista.

[Express]

I have over 120k items indexed, the speed at which queries come back is pretty amazing.

How did you get an exact count of the number of items indexed?

[jmc777]

It tells you in the Indexing Options dialogue.

[cswimbound]

Talking about version numbers...is there any way to check for the version number of the search application in vista? If there's not then I think they should add a place to check for that somewhere.

[Mr Winkle]

it's actually quite usable now. it only took 4 versions. the speed of retrieving the results on a large number of indexed items is *much* quicker. also, the indexer doesn't seem to grind away like before. memory usage is still high, though (for some reason, it's been implemented in four separate processes which take up a combined 40MB of ram when idle).

Edited March 30, 2008 by Mr Winkle

[Evolution]

How does the performance of 4.0 Preview compare to the built-in search of Vista SP1?