If you're like me and have tens of thousands of emails in Microsoft Outlook, you've noticed that the "Find" function in Outlook is extremely slow. This lead me to try out an Outlook add-in called Lookout that was available on Microsoft's Sandbox site. Lookout was so fast and effective that I decided to take a look at a whole-computer search utility.
Freely downloadable Search Toolbars have sprung up all over the place. I decide to try Google Desktop Search, Yahoo Desktop Search, and the new MSN Toolbar.
Google Desktop Search installs in the Windows deskbar and does a very fast job of searching documents and emails, but gives you search results in a web browser. This felt out of place on the desktop - it somehow seems creepy to see your local information presented exactly as if you found it on the internet. The browser-based approach also forced me to click to open each resulting doc to make sure it was what I was looking for.
Yahoo Desktop Search is very versatile with fast search results and full preview capability, but it has a clumsy UI and stability issues that caused it to hang sometimes. This really gets in the way of trying to do a fast and convenient search.
The Windows Desktop Search included with MSN Toolbar is excellent, and is developed by the same team that developed Lookout. It integrates perfectly with the Windows desktop, giving you instant search-as-you-type results in a docked toolbar, and more detailed results with a preview window if you choose. All Microsoft Office document formats can be previewed, as well as emails and images. Note that I disabled the MSN Toolbar for Internet Explorer, as I prefer Google's IE toolbar instead.
I really thought it would be a close competition between the 3 search engines from these internet giants, but no one comes close to the power, speed, and perfect Windows integration of the MSN Toolbar.
