Joho the Blog: I still like X1 better

October 18, 2004

I still like X1 better

IMO, X1 beats Google desktop search in every regard but two: price and branding.

I like X1 better because:

- More parameters mean more flexible search

- X1 lets me tell it to update the index once a day rather than continuously; I don't like giving up even my idle cycles.

- If I exit Google, it doesn't pick up whatever came in while it's off. That's a bad design flaw

- X1 shows me many more results at a time than does Google

- X1 shows me the entire document, not just a sentence or so. I don't have to open the originating app. I can even copy from the doc. - X1 indexes more than just Microsoft products, including Netscape and Eudora (It temporarily has stopped indexing Thunderbird, but they're working on it.) - X1 has been incredibly responsive to suggestions and beefs over the past few years. We'll see how Google does.

X1 is on sale for $75 (usually $100), which is infinitely more expensive than free. If I didn't already own it, I might buy it for $75, but if I were X1 I'd drop the price to $49.00. Ah, free advice, what can't it recommend?

Posted by D. Weinberger at October 18, 2004 07:45 AM

TrackBack

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference I still like X1 better:

» Searchin' from A View From Home
Seems the big thing now is searching. Apple is promoting Spotlight in Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4), but seriously, compared to Windows XP they had nothing to worry about. Without installing a single utility, searching for something in Mac OS... [Read More]

» JOHO on Google's search utility from searching the desktop

David Weinberger does a slice and dice of Google's Beta desktop search-weinberger review:

"If I exit Google, it doesn't pick up whatever came in while it's off. That's a bad design flaw"

[Read More]

» The Radical Insidiousness Of Desktop Search from The Social Customer Manifesto
This week's desktop search frenzy is much bigger than the desktop. It actually signals the beginning of a fundamental shift in the way we will interact with information. The Legacy Of...The Folder Many of us want to keep things "organized." [Read More]

Comments

I'm with you, David, and appreciate the pointer eons ago... I bought a copy of X1 and swear by it.

Posted by: Jon Lebkowsky | October 18, 2004 12:15 PM

Didn't like X1 myself. Tried it several times and found it ate up too much CPU and hard disk space. I'm a fan of Copernic Desktop Search for full text search -- hopefully it will do Eudora email soon.

Posted by: Tim | October 18, 2004 01:55 PM

You might try out the Copernic desktop - also free and very comparable to google's. I haven't bothered installing Google since this just sits there and works. (had tried X1, but didn't like it well enough to purchase)

http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/

Posted by: Jonathan Peterson | October 18, 2004 05:32 PM

I'm a fan of Copernic Desktop Search for full text search -- hopefully it will do Eudora email soon.
六合彩

Posted by: Bothe | November 1, 2004 02:23 AM

i really like x1 but the interface needs work and it is too performance hungry

Posted by: James Governor | November 11, 2004 06:31 AM

I still like http://www.lookoutsoft.com/Lookout/download.html

lookout best... as its free. $75 for a search engine is too much.

Posted by: Anthony Loera | November 11, 2004 06:08 PM