Platforms .26 their histories Desktop search

1 platforms & histories

1.1 windows
1.2 mac os
1.3 linux

1.3.1 ubuntu
1.3.2 opensuse

platforms & histories

there 3 main platforms desktop search falls into. windows, mac os & linux. article focus on history of these search platforms, features had, , how features evolved.

windows

today s windows search replaced wds (windows desktop search). wds, in turn, replaced indexing service. base service extracts content files , constructs indexed catalog facilitate efficient , rapid searching indexing service released in august 1996, built in order speed manually searching files on personal desktops , corporate computer network. indexing service helped using microsoft web servers index files on desired hard drives. indexing done file format. using terms users provided, search conducted matched terms data within file formats. largest issue indexing service faced fact every time file added, had indexed. coupled fact indexing cached entire index in ram, made hardware huge limitation. made indexing large amounts of files require extremely powerful hardware , long wait times.

in 2003, windows desktop search (wds) replaced microsoft indexing service. instead of matching terms details of file format , file names, wds brings in content indexing microsoft files , text-based formats such e-mail , text files. means, wds looked files , indexed content. thus, when user searched term, wds no longer matched information such file format types , file names, terms, , values stored within files. wds brought instant searching meaning user type character , query instantly start searching , updating query user typed in more characters. windows search apparently used lot of processing power, windows desktop search run if directly queried or while pc idle. running while directly queried or while computer idled, indexing entire hard drive still took hours. index around 10% of size of files indexed. example, if indexed files amounted around 100gb of space, index would, itself, 10gb large.

with release of windows vista came windows search 3.1. unlike predecessors wds , windows search 3.0, 3.1 search through both indexed , non indexed locations seamlessly. also, ram , cpu requirements reduced, cutting indexing times immensely. windows search 4.0 running on pcs windows 7 , up.

mac os

mac os first implement desktop search applesearch search engine, allowing users search documents within macintosh computer, including file format types, meta-data on files, , content within files. applesearch client/server application, , such required server separate main device in order function. biggest issue applesearch large resource requirements: applesearch requires @ least 68040 processor , 5mb of ram. @ time, macintosh computer these specifications priced @ approximately $1400; equivalent $2050 in 2015. on top of this, software cost additional $1400 single license.

in 1997, sherlock released alongside mac os 8.5. sherlock (named after famous fictional detective sherlock holmes) integrated mac os s file browser – finder. sherlock extended desktop search function world wide web, allowing users search both locally , externally. adding additional functions—such internet access—to sherlock relatively simple, done through plugins written plain text files. sherlock included in every release of mac os mac os 8, before being deprecated , replaced spotlight , dashboard in mac os x 10.4 tiger. officially removed in mac os x 10.5 leopard

spotlight released in 2005 part of mac os x 10.4 tiger. selection-based search tool, means user invokes query using mouse. spotlight allows user search internet more information keyword or phrase contained within document or webpage, , uses built-in calculator , oxford american dictionary offer quick access small calculations , word definitions. while spotlight has long startup time, decreases hard disk indexed. files added user, index updated in background using minimal cpu & ram resources.

linux

there wide range of desktop search options linux users, depending upon skill level of user, preference use desktop tools tightly integrate desktop environment, command-shell functionality (often advanced scripting options), or browser-based users interfaces locally running software. in addition, many users create own indexing variety of indexing packages (e.g. 1 extraction , indexing of pdf/doc/docx/odt documents well, search engine works w/ vcard, ldap, , other directory/contact databases, conventional find , locate commands.

ubuntu

the ubuntu distribution popular version of linux. strangely enough, ubuntu didn t have desktop search until feisty fawn 7.04. using tracker desktop search, desktop search feature similar mac os s applesearch , sherlock. considering fact both unix-based systems. tracker, released in late 2007, built have relatively low impact on system resources. unfortunately had sporadic control on resources using. not featured basic features of file format sorting , meta-data matching, support searching through emails , instant messages added. years later, in 2014 recoll added linux distributions, works other search programs such tracker , beagle provide efficient full text search. increased types of queries linux desktop searches handle file types. major advantage of recoll allows greater customization of indexed. example, recoll index entire hard disk default, , can index few select directories instead of wasting time indexing directories know never need at. allows more search options, may narrow down kind of query want ask. example, search file types or content.

opensuse

starting kde4, nepomuk introduced. provided ability index wide range of desktop content, email, , use semantic web technologies (e.g. rdf) annotate database. introduction faced few glitches, of seemed based on triplestore. performance improved (at least queries) switching backend stripped own version of virtuoso open source edition, indexing remained common user complaint.

based on user feedback, nepomuk indexing , search has been replaced baloo framework based on xapian.