Alternative Search Solution for Windows 8

very good
key review info
application features
  • Performance-oriented search experience
  • (6 more, see all...)

There’s been a lot of talk about Windows 8’s Start Screen and, although an update is on the brink of release, the spirits have not calmed down yet.

The modern interface is definitely a tough cookie, especially for users who have been accustomed to accessing certain areas and programs through the decades-old Start menu.

Apart from this, search is another issue users pick on. Not just because the entire process has been moved to the Start Screen, but because results are fragmented mainly between apps, settings and files.

When it comes to finding a particular item Copernic Desktop Search Home (CDS Home) has been a reliable companion. It indexes the information in order to pull the results in a jiffy.

There are three versions available, one free for personal use and two paid, Professional ($49.95 / 38 EUR) and Corporate ($59.95 / 45.7 EUR), which are more business-oriented. The last two include advanced features that offer more control over search and file indexing as well as network deployment or Intranet integration.

Installing the Home edition is not a complicated job. Initially, you just have to indicate the intended use of the application and choose the installation folder.

Next, you can select between a typical installation procedure (that applies the default configuration settings) and a custom one, which allows you to set indexing and search parameters; these can be configured whenever you want from the application’s Settings panel as well.

CDS Home features classic looks, a bit in contrast with the flat design in Windows 8, but in this case functionality plays a more important role.

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The main application window is quite simple, with the search bar and categories available in the left hand side and a larger portion dedicated to showing the results and managing them.

Before starting your search, Copernic needs to index the files. Depending on number and their storage locations, the inventory could take a while to finish. However, with proper customization of file indexing under the configuration panel, the duration of the entire process can be decreased.

Keep in mind that indexing is optimized by default, for a low impact on system resources. As such, it will do its job when the computer is idle. You can enable it to run unrestricted at the beginning so that it finishes faster and then re-enable the optimized mode.

Furthermore, it offers the chance to choose which file types should be indexed.

Alternatively, there is the possibility to suspend indexing during intense usage of computer resources and resume the operation some time after detecting a decrease.

Most search utilities simply retrieve the files matching the query, but CDS Home can also distinguish their type and allows you to filter out some file categories for a more refined answer.

Additional options for receiving more relevant answers are available as soon as you pick a category. The choices at hand include defining the file type from a bunch of presets, size, date and folder location.

The application can make the difference between emails (Thunderbird, Outlook and Windows Mail), multimedia items (pictures, videos and music), contacts, favorites and history (Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer).

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Some of the results, such as images, documents and even music files can be previewed once selected.

The search can be initiated for all these categories and once completed, you can choose to see the matching results selectively.

For an easy search, CDS Home can also place a search bar (called deskbar) on Windows taskbar. The results are displayed in a menu with limited functionality compared to the main application window. However, there is the possibility to view them by category.

You can customize how many answers should be displayed for each file type as well as set a keyboard shortcut for quickly starting the search from the deskbar.

Because it relies on indexing to retrieve the results, CDS Home returns the answers very fast. Under the advanced configuration panel, it provides the option to display the results as you type them.

During our tests, it seemed to answer our query a tad faster than the default search option available in Windows 8. Even more, the files were shown in a much more comfortable manner and the fact that there is preview support for documents and pictures as well as highlighting of the keywords helps a lot.

The application features query correction to hint at the right search string in case of mistypes. If Copernic does not find a match for the query among the locally stored files, it also displays results from the web.

A very neat trick is displaying matching results from the content of the files. CDS Home can do this easily, although it may be confusing at times because all results are mixed together. Having a section that shows only results from the content of the document would make things a bit clearer.

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The Good

Because it relies on file indexing, results are returned at amazing speeds. The preview pane comes in very handy when returning multiple results that have the same query string in the name.

You can view results selectively and organize them by date. All answers are retrieved extremely fast once file indexing completes. The deskbar makes for a very comfortable way to search for files.

You can control how indexing is performed so that it has minimum impact on system performance.

The Bad

Functions available for paid products only are available in the interface (MySearches, Organizer category).

File content matches are shown just like regular search results and users may sometimes be confused.

The Truth

Copernic Desktop Search Home is not the most elegant solution for finding files on a Windows 8 system, but it does a very good job. There is room for improvements, but overall it is a great product.

File indexing is at the core of the application and it can take a significant amount of time, so one complete scan is enough for everything to work fine.

user interface 4
features 4
ease of use 4
pricing / value 4


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good
 
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