Register Log in


Windows desktop search tools

Users have recently been hit with a barrage of desktop search tools. Ars sifts …

Copernic Desktop Search

Developer's site:
Cost: Free

Perhaps you have never heard of it, but Copernic has been a quiet contender when it comes to search for quite some time now. Copernic Agent is a powerful tool for conducting web searches. The company's foray into the desktop search market is incredibly polished and satisfying to use. Copernic Desktop Search mostly lives in the system tray, though it also includes a deskbar for people who like instant access to searches. Copernic distinguishes between the type of file you wish to locate in a search. Though the deskbar provides immediate access to query entry, you must specify the filetype before it will perform the search.

Copernic Deskbar

Dividing searches into multiple categories doesn't give it the charm of Google's approach, but the results are vastly superior. Usually you know the file type (divided by e-mails, files, music, pictures, videos, contacts, favorites, and web history) of the content you want to find. By making this specification, you can make more refined searches based on metadata. Instead of just searching for "Coltrane," you can specify "Coltrane" as the artist name. This extra step makes for far better results. You can easily define which filetypes are categorized under music, video, and pictures. If you have a FLAC fetish, you can make sure your music doesn't get missed in a search. Copernic also features live queries. It will preview the contents of search results, though PDFs can take a while to load.

Copernic Results

Search results aren't interpreted for relevance by the program. This can make them harder to sift through, but it also means the item you want won't be shuffled aside by an otherwise well-meaning algorithm. On the other hand, there were times when I wanted some assertion of "relevance." With some searches, looking for a needle in a haystack just becomes looking for a needle in a slightly smaller haystack. Results are sortable by folder, date, and filetype.

Copernic's interface is generally very friendly. Unfortunately, it doesn't scale well. The developers' solution to this problem is letting you collapse away superfluous parts of the interface. You can hide the results dating from yesterday if you know they're irrelevant (in addition to refining your query to avoid them). If you don't want advanced search options, you can hide them from view. This approach works fine for search options (which have fixed dimensions), but search results can quickly outgrow this tactic. Something as simple as increasing the size of the grouping controls would make a significant difference. Their small size feels out of balance with the large data sets they manipulate.

You are given a lot of control over how Copernic runs. You can dictate when indexing is done, what kinds of files are indexed, and which files can't be indexed. You can even tell it to toss out the current index and start from scratch. The program's logic never becomes indecipherable. You always know what it's doing and why.

Copernic is very satisfying to use, but I can't help but wish it could do more. Its current feature set is implemented so solidly that I feel its developers must be itching to make it an even more comprehensive search tool. I'd like to see them go the extra step between a good interface and a great one. I'd love to see "alternative" programs like OpenOffice included in the index (they already handle Firefox web histories). I look forward to seeing what's in store for the future of Copernic.

Expand full story

You must to comment.

Need to register for a new account?

If you don't have an account yet it's free and easy.