Windows Search 4.0: Faster, but still needs help

The just-released beta of Windows Search 4.0 is certainly faster than the previous version of Vista search --- but it still suffers from a confusing interface and occasionally incomprehensible behavior. Microsoft needs to realize that it's not just speed that's needed when you search, but intelligence as well.

First the good news -- revamped Search is lightning fast. I haven't been able to devise speed tests, but I can vouch that results appear far more quickly than previously. This is true in Outlook as well, because Vista Search integrates into Outlook. Microsoft claims that search is 33% faster than previously, and that doesn't surprise me at all.

The new search includes a variety of other nice changes as well, including Rollback Recovery, which will roll back your search index to a previously known good state if it gets corrupted. Microsoft also says a variety of bugs have been fixed. Other changes under the hood, such as better support for Group Policy settings, will be welcomed by system administrators.

Now the bad news. First off, if you're a Vista user, it only works with SP1. So if you're one of the many people who can't get SP1 because of driver incompatibilities, you're out of luck. I've also found that Search returns occasionally inconsistent results. As you can see from the screenshot below, when I type "hp" into the Search box on the Start menu, I get no results. But if I press Enter, and launch full-blown Search, I do see results.

The interface remains confusing as well. The icons that appear toward the top of the screen change, depending on the search you do --- but there's no apparent logic to how and why they change. Sometimes a Search Tools icon appears; other times it vanishes. The Burn icon comes and goes with little logic as well. Sometimes a Sharing Settings icon makes an appearance...but more often not. Why, you ask? There's no explanation at all.

There are plenty of other anomolies and confusions with Vista Search. Microsoft would have done well to fix them, not just goose up speed when it released this version of Search. I'm hoping we won't have to wait until Windows 7 for them to be fixed.

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