My little big grief is when you click the little magnifying glass and spotlight starts, then start typing something and move the mouse. If the mouse moves to much towards the time on the menu bar spotlight goes away. I have come across a few menus like the Services menu that you have to be pretty exact on or they go away.
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Big List of Spotlight Annoyances
- Thread starter TheSpaz
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Jeez, we're sorry we don't share your hatred of the new Spotlight. Sure you raised some valid points (e.g. the icon view text), but just because this isn't a 30 page thread about how **** Spotlight is, doesn't mean there is "fanboyism" at work ("fanboy" being a lazy way to dismiss anyone who doesn't agree with your criticism of a product).
I don't hate the new Spotlight, I just wish they didn't take away the features I used. It seems like a stripped down version of Spotlight only to make it faster but, it has less function now than before. I STILL can't figure out why I can't customize how my results are organized like I could in Tiger. Why is this ability taken away from us? Why am I forced to look at "Last Opened" dates rather than real-life last-saved dates? Even if I add a search criteria, it still won't show me which files are the newest it just sorts them by name, kind, or last opened which is mostly useless for me. I'm hoping that Apple will secretly add customization to Leopard's Spotlight with the small updates but, that probably won't happen.
It's just sad that now I HAVE to make 2 or 3 steps to do something that I could have done with one step in Tiger and possibly a glance.
Look how nice this looks. It's clean, it's simple and I can see the last modified date right there in plain view so I know which folder is newer. I also get to see previews of my Illustrator files as well. What a nice way Spotlight USED to work. Now, I either get ALL image previews and cannot read the names, or I get a list of files, not knowing the real dates of them.
Also, if you look at the screenshot. Notice how I am searching the volume "YODA"? All I did was open the volume "YODA" and start typing in my search... done.... easy as that. In Leopard, I would start typing in a search, then I see that there are no results and I'm like "What the hell?" and then I realize that I can no longer search the current folder by default and I was accidentally searching my internal drive rather than the intended network drive and then after realizing it, I'd have to move my mouse and revert my attention to "fix the glitch" and let Spotlight find my results AGAIN... so how is that faster than just waiting an extra second for the slower Spotlight with less distractions.
Also, notice from the screenshot... no ugly horizontal scroll bar! and all the names are perfectly readable without getting cut off in any way.
By the way... for those people who say that the Spotlight Window in Tiger is a window which does not belong to anything and it's almost impossible to get to when it's behind another window... just press cmd-option-space again and it comes to the front. What's so hard about that? Also, it shows up in Exposé view too.
Also, if you look at the screenshot. Notice how I am searching the volume "YODA"? All I did was open the volume "YODA" and start typing in my search... done.... easy as that. In Leopard, I would start typing in a search, then I see that there are no results and I'm like "What the hell?" and then I realize that I can no longer search the current folder by default and I was accidentally searching my internal drive rather than the intended network drive and then after realizing it, I'd have to move my mouse and revert my attention to "fix the glitch" and let Spotlight find my results AGAIN... so how is that faster than just waiting an extra second for the slower Spotlight with less distractions.
Also, notice from the screenshot... no ugly horizontal scroll bar! and all the names are perfectly readable without getting cut off in any way.
By the way... for those people who say that the Spotlight Window in Tiger is a window which does not belong to anything and it's almost impossible to get to when it's behind another window... just press cmd-option-space again and it comes to the front. What's so hard about that? Also, it shows up in Exposé view too.
i agree.
fully agreed on all points. the one thing i do like about the new spotlight implementation is that it's easier to constrain your search to only the file names (sometimes i even wish this could be the default). my two biggest annoyances are that they got rid of that wonderful categorical grouping in the results window, and that it's difficult and unintuitive to get it to search just the location i want it to.
fully agreed on all points. the one thing i do like about the new spotlight implementation is that it's easier to constrain your search to only the file names (sometimes i even wish this could be the default). my two biggest annoyances are that they got rid of that wonderful categorical grouping in the results window, and that it's difficult and unintuitive to get it to search just the location i want it to.
Direct your feedback to Apple
Great idea Spaz... I think we should make our opinion heard... Direct every suggestion to http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html
Great idea Spaz... I think we should make our opinion heard... Direct every suggestion to http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html
I rarely used Spotlight, but I constantly used the Finder search and this is one of the most stupid changes they made. Most people roughly know where their stuff is. Navigating to a folder and then narrowing down the view with Search is the far more common action than to search for something was has no idea where it is. Hopefully, there is a plist setting to change this.
Believe me, they're not changeable... I've tried. Do some research next time before posting like this.
There is one small detail about Leopard's Spotlight - it actually finds stuff.
Spotlight in Tiger worked only when it wanted to and even when did it did so very slowly. In Tiger, it was more like SpotBlight. (Hint: try searching for a multiple word combination - have fun).
That said, Leopard's implementation could still be improved but it is a big step in the right direction.
Spotlight in Tiger worked only when it wanted to and even when did it did so very slowly. In Tiger, it was more like SpotBlight. (Hint: try searching for a multiple word combination - have fun).
That said, Leopard's implementation could still be improved but it is a big step in the right direction.
I certainly don't think Spotlight is perfect, and I can't really compare, but..If it can find any file on your computer (minus like system folders and such) within about 3 seconds by pressing cmd+space and typing a name, why does it matter that much? I've never even used the spotlight inside Finder, and even if I'm already in the folder I need, I still use cmd+space to find a file. That's not saying your complaints aren't legitimate, but I think spotlight is fast enough that it's really not that big of a deal.
Add to the list:
You can no longer directly locate plist and other configuration files through Spotlight. Instead, you've got to go through a series of convoluted steps in the finder window just to get the search to recognize such files. Of course, once you close the window, your hard work is erased, and you'll re-run the gauntlet when next you need a similar search. Apparently, this is because Spotlight no longer searches the Library folders.
I have no idea why Apple chose to make things harder to find in Leopard compared to in Tiger. There's also the issue of how Tiger (in the finder window) sorted search results into categories (applications, documents, folders, etc). No more in Leopard! The first issue is a bigger deal to me than the second, but in general, Spotlight's been handicapped. I do like how it's faster, but taking away options and leaving PUs without means to reinstate them isn't progress; it's a step backwards.
You can no longer directly locate plist and other configuration files through Spotlight. Instead, you've got to go through a series of convoluted steps in the finder window just to get the search to recognize such files. Of course, once you close the window, your hard work is erased, and you'll re-run the gauntlet when next you need a similar search. Apparently, this is because Spotlight no longer searches the Library folders.
I have no idea why Apple chose to make things harder to find in Leopard compared to in Tiger. There's also the issue of how Tiger (in the finder window) sorted search results into categories (applications, documents, folders, etc). No more in Leopard! The first issue is a bigger deal to me than the second, but in general, Spotlight's been handicapped. I do like how it's faster, but taking away options and leaving PUs without means to reinstate them isn't progress; it's a step backwards.