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I still like X1 better

IMO, X1 beats Google desktop search in every regard but two: price and branding.

I like X1 better because:

– More parameters mean more flexible search

– X1 lets me tell it to update the index once a day rather than continuously; I don’t like giving up even my idle cycles.

– If I exit Google, it doesn’t pick up whatever came in while it’s off. That’s a bad design flaw

– X1 shows me many more results at a time than does Google

– X1 shows me the entire document, not just a sentence or so. I don’t have to open the originating app. I can even copy from the doc.

– X1 indexes more than just Microsoft products, including Netscape and Eudora (It temporarily has stopped indexing Thunderbird, but they’re working on it.)

– X1 has been incredibly responsive to suggestions and beefs over the past few years. We’ll see how Google does.

X1 is on sale for $75 (usually $100), which is infinitely more expensive than free. If I didn’t already own it, I might buy it for $75, but if I were X1 I’d drop the price to $49.00. Ah, free advice, what can’t it recommend?

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9 Responses to “I still like X1 better”

  1. I’m with you, David, and appreciate the pointer eons ago… I bought a copy of X1 and swear by it.

  2. Didn’t like X1 myself. Tried it several times and found it ate up too much CPU and hard disk space. I’m a fan of Copernic Desktop Search for full text search — hopefully it will do Eudora email soon.

  3. You might try out the Copernic desktop – also free and very comparable to google’s. I haven’t bothered installing Google since this just sits there and works. (had tried X1, but didn’t like it well enough to purchase)

    http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/

  4. I’m a fan of Copernic Desktop Search for full text search — hopefully it will do Eudora email soon.
    六合彩

  5. i really like x1 but the interface needs work and it is too performance hungry

  6. I still like http://www.lookoutsoft.com/Lookout/download.html

    lookout best… as its free. $75 for a search engine is too much.

  7. Searchin’

    Seems the big thing now is searching. Apple is promoting Spotlight in Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4), but seriously, compared to Windows XP they had nothing to worry about. Without installing a single utility, searching for something in Mac OS…

  8. JOHO on Google's search utility

    David Weinberger does a slice and dice of Google's Beta desktop search-weinberger review:

    "If I exit Google, it doesn't pick up whatever came in while it's off. That's a bad design flaw"

  9. The Radical Insidiousness Of Desktop Search

    This week’s desktop search frenzy is much bigger than the desktop. It actually signals the beginning of a fundamental shift in the way we will interact with information. The Legacy Of…The Folder Many of us want to keep things “organized.”

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