Until RC2, one of the best features of Vista was its speedy, exceedingly powerful Search features. But with RC2, Microsoft essentially threw Search under the train, making some of the most bizarre user interface decisions imaginable. Why did Microsoft decide to decimate the great Search tool?
Until RC2, Search was always available in Windows Explorer via an extremely useful Search pane. In all previous Vista versions, you could turn on the Search Pane from any folder by choosing Organize –> Layout –> Search Pane.
Inexplicably, Microsoft killed the Search pane in RC2…sort of. That pane now appears and disappears for no logical reason. For example, if you open Windows Explorer to the Computer or the Desktop folder, the Search Pane option appears. But if you’re in other folders, the option isn’t there. If there’s some logic to this, it thoroughly escapes me.
However, if you type anything in the search box, the option will appear in any folder…but if you delete the text in the search box, it won’t appear.
Why, you may ask? Again, there’s no logic here at all. I asked Microsoft if this behavior was a bug, which would eventually be fixed. I was assured that no, it was instead a conscious decision. I then asked for the logic behind it. None was forthcoming.
There are other problems with Search as well, most notably that by default, it indexes very few folders.
Anyone out there have any idea why Microsoft has decided to go a long way towards destroying what was one of Vista’s best features? If so, let me know.
Hey,
I'm not sure what's wrong with your Vista RC2 installation, but in mine the search input field is always available next to the address bar. Clicking the X on the right on the input field always brings back the folder view.
I don't know about their decision in Vista, but my exprience is that they killed it in XP. It hasn't been worth a damn since Windows 2000. I had to buy a third party tool to do the job. And, while I'm whining about my favorite operating system, I find that it takes 2 to 3 minutes for explorer to respond on a machine with SATA drive. Arggh.
I am not sure why they would cripple such a nice feature. There is probably some design doc abot that, let me search.. Oh
WINDOWS DECIMATES SEARCH!!!
"...killed the Search pane in RC2...sort of."
Oh. OK.
"...if you type anything in the search box, the option will appear in any folder...but if you delete the text in the search box, it won't appear... Why you my ask?"
Sure. How about "Why you would need the search pane without a search string?"
"I then asked (Micro$oft) for the logic behind it. None was forthcoming."
Typical.
But dude, check this out! I had to give it a shot myself. Things got kinda hairy fast, so I got these OS X and KDE gui wizards I know involved to help out with the initial flow design. After a couple of all-nighter's at the white board (and a case of Jolt), I think we finally came up with something very promising:
if(searchString.Text){
searchPane.DisplayWindow();
}
I'll admit it's still totally untested code at this point, still more of a concept than any kind of solution, but I think we're getting close.
I have several Word docs with the string "Philip" and Vista search doesn't find any of them. It's works great searching by file name, but so far has been completely useless for content. Am I missing something? In contrast the search under XP worked beautifully. Vista seems to have fixed things that weren't broken, improved features out of existence, and provided new features that seem completely pointless.