Type 'updat' and all search results disappear completely.
Type 'upd' and now it shows Windows Update but not the Java update.
Type fast and get different results than if you type slow.
Type the same thing a third time and get different results than the first two times.
And now Cortana keeps bugging me with lame notifications. How do I turn this off?
- The user types 'upd' and pauses. The most likely thing the user wants is Windows Update, so show that.
- The user continues typing (typed 'upda' so far). The user doesn't want Windows Update otherwise they would have picked it earlier. So show Java's updater.
- The user keeps typing (typed 'updat' so far). Well the user didn't select Windows Update or Java's updater, so who knows what they want. Don't show anything until we get more letters.
The logic works unless you're dealing with human beings who don't pause and pick the one correct action at every point.
I think that includes all human beings. None of us pay full attention at all times. Who did the PM think they were targeting?
That's exactly what I meant though I said it in an ironic way.
Speed of typing seems to matter for 'downloa' but not for 'download' or 'downloads', see my other post for the full non-story and two possible fixes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15766965
Type "pho", it suggests Photoshop
Type "phot", it suggests Photo Boot
Type "photo", it suggests Photoshop again
Photoshop most started application so it offers it at 'pho'
yet you keep typing another char, so apparently its not photoshop you search for, maybe its the number 2 app that is required, lets offer photo booth.
Ah wait the user keeps typing, well i only got two proper options, let suggest option number 1 again.
https://everything.en.softonic.com/
"Everything" is a fantastic lightning-fast system-wide search that's tiny and can run standalone.
I wonder why windows can't have something like Everything integrated in explorer? It surely can't be that hard to index file names when you're the OS yourself...
In the "Others" section
You have to wonder: how is it that a single developer can build something so much better than a behemoth like MS? They should be seriously embarrassed.
I think Windows started going downhill for two reasons: When Microsoft coopted the desktop version to add mobile-oriented features (Windows 8), and then when they coopted it to start cross-selling their cloud and Web services.
(Screenshots; SFW)
Anybody knows how to get that "calc" thing working as expected?
It's weird that there are no great "magic search" tools on any desktop environment I've used. Windows 7 is close, but doesn't include any fancy results (can't have it do quick math, etc). Mac's Spotlight gets everything right, except it won't open a new window if I type, say, "firefox". It'll just pull up a window I already have open (no way to change that behavior without weird hacks). Unity's gets confused and breaks too often. Cinnamon's sorts results alphabetically. Gnome's is fairly close to ideal, though it forgets launch history too quickly (if I type "calc" and select LibreOffice's Calc just _once_ it'll start showing that first, instead of Calculator which I want 95% of the time when typing "calc").