8 ms·

See, I thought Cortana was Microsoft's name for their voice assistant on Windows 10 or something. Now everything is starting to make sense. I kept having issu

See, I thought Cortana was Microsoft's name for their voice assistant on Windows 10 or something. Now everything is starting to make sense. I kept having issues using the Windows menu search in Windows 10. I'd type "remov" and it would show the menu item for uninstalling applications. Great. But if I accidentally finished and typed "remove" the result would disappear. I felt like I was going crazy or something. Comforting to know everyone is having similar problems ... though still just as bewildering as to why it's happening in the first place. 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").

nerflad 9y ago
That same thing (Calc/Calculator) happens to me every day. haha. I never thought about how that is probably affecting a ton of users.
- _lce0 9y ago
  oh my, I'm not alone! ;) Anybody knows how to get that "calc" thing working as expected?
  - staz 9y ago
    Have the same problem all the time, one time it was too much and I just uninstalled Libreoffice (of course in the end I just had to reinstall it)
    - Taniwha 9y ago
      surely that's a reason to turn off the stupid microsoft search, not to get rid of libreoffice
      - nerflad 9y ago
        We're talking about searching in the Activities view of GNOME 3. I don't think it can be turned off (usually it's great if there isn't a name collision)
        FeepingCreature 9y ago
        Have you considered installing KCalc? It should come first. :)
vocatus_gate 9y ago
There IS a magic search tool, I've been using it for years. https://everything.en.softonic.com/ https://everything.en.softonic.com/ "Everything" is a fantastic lightning-fast system-wide search that's tiny and can run standalone.
- cabaalis 9y ago
  Despite your glowing review, I cannot bring myself to download and install anything from sites like these. I'm sure it's a great program.
  - vinw 9y ago
    Everything's site is voidtools.com https://www.voidtools.com/downloads/ https://www.voidtools.com/downloads/
  - kzrdude 9y ago
    Indeed, umatrix just blocks the whole page from loading by default. So something seems off :-)
  - number6 9y ago
    You can get it via ninite.com In the "Others" section
  - vocatus_gate 9y ago
    My bad, I think I grabbed the wrong URL and can't edit the post any more. vinw's comment referencing Void Tools is the correct url.
- enitihas 9y ago
  I have been using Everything for a long time and would gladly recommend it to anyone trying to search their files on windows. It even supports regex searches. It is one of the very few softwares I miss when using linux. The search part of everything is lighting fast.
- chinhodado 9y ago
  Everything is such a hidden gem. Simple and lightning fast, I can't imagine using a computer without it now. Compared to it, Windows's search is worse than garbage. There have been more than one occasions where Windows can't even find a file in a folder even when I have typed in the exact file name. 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...
wombatpm 9y ago
Shout out for Wox. https://github.com/Wox-launcher/Wox https://github.com/Wox-launcher/Wox its what I went to when Launchy stagnated. Its one of the first things I install on new PC's
- michielr 9y ago
  Check out keypirinha http://keypirinha.com/ http://keypirinha.com/ if you like Wox. I prefer it over wox a lot.
  - pingec 9y ago
    Defender flags the installer as virus :/
poopchute 9y ago
That calc example is the exact reason I uninstalled libre office. Google sheets is good enough for everything I need
flamedoge 9y ago
giant screw up with typeahead
mathiasrw 9y ago
Avafind is da thing if you are on Windows.
wazoox 9y ago
Doesn't affect me because I've been using Qalculate as a calculator for years. "qalc" is qalculate, "calc" is LibreOffice. Problem solved :)
madengr 9y ago
There used to be a program called X10. It would index into Lotus Notes, word docs, PDFs; everything on my computer. It worked great for about a year, then was bought out and went to shit. All this AI search stuff is garbage.
starik36 9y ago
In addition to the tools others mentioned, check out Agent Ransack. It's like visual grep and it's fantastic for finding text in document (including binary docs). It runs on demand only so it won't sap any of the system resources.
panarky 9y ago
Type 'upda' to get Windows Update, but instead it shows Java's updater. 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?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- gt_ 9y ago
  I just played this game a few minutes ago with Device Manager. I have developed a habit that when I search the Start menu, I slowly type one letter at a time and wait for the result each time.
  - ianlevesque 9y ago
    Just right click the windows menu next time, everything you could want is in there.
- mysterypie 9y ago
  I think that explains what the programmers who wrote Cortana were thinking. The reasoning must have been as follows: - 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.
  - therein 9y ago
    > 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?
wrycoder 9y ago
One app search engine I deal with: type “remo” and hesitate a heartbeat. System fills “remove”, meanwhile I finish “ve<enter>” and the system searches for “removeve”.
PeachPlum 9y ago
man locate
beojan 9y ago
Have you tried KRunner?
derimagia 9y ago
I've been trying out Listery (http://www.listary.com/ http://www.listary.com/) which is the best thing to Alfred on Windows I can find. Like an updated Launchy.

nerflad 9y ago

That same thing (Calc/Calculator) happens to me every day. haha. I never thought about how that is probably affecting a ton of users.

_lce0 9y ago
oh my, I'm not alone! ;) Anybody knows how to get that "calc" thing working as expected?
- staz 9y ago
  Have the same problem all the time, one time it was too much and I just uninstalled Libreoffice (of course in the end I just had to reinstall it)
  - Taniwha 9y ago
    surely that's a reason to turn off the stupid microsoft search, not to get rid of libreoffice
    - nerflad 9y ago
      We're talking about searching in the Activities view of GNOME 3. I don't think it can be turned off (usually it's great if there isn't a name collision)
      - FeepingCreature 9y ago
        Have you considered installing KCalc? It should come first. :)

vocatus_gate 9y ago

There IS a magic search tool, I've been using it for years. https://everything.en.softonic.com/ https://everything.en.softonic.com/ "Everything" is a fantastic lightning-fast system-wide search that's tiny and can run standalone.

cabaalis 9y ago
Despite your glowing review, I cannot bring myself to download and install anything from sites like these. I'm sure it's a great program.
- vinw 9y ago
  Everything's site is voidtools.com https://www.voidtools.com/downloads/ https://www.voidtools.com/downloads/
- kzrdude 9y ago
  Indeed, umatrix just blocks the whole page from loading by default. So something seems off :-)
- number6 9y ago
  You can get it via ninite.com In the "Others" section
- vocatus_gate 9y ago
  My bad, I think I grabbed the wrong URL and can't edit the post any more. vinw's comment referencing Void Tools is the correct url.
enitihas 9y ago
I have been using Everything for a long time and would gladly recommend it to anyone trying to search their files on windows. It even supports regex searches. It is one of the very few softwares I miss when using linux. The search part of everything is lighting fast.
chinhodado 9y ago
Everything is such a hidden gem. Simple and lightning fast, I can't imagine using a computer without it now. Compared to it, Windows's search is worse than garbage. There have been more than one occasions where Windows can't even find a file in a folder even when I have typed in the exact file name. 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...

wombatpm 9y ago

Shout out for Wox. https://github.com/Wox-launcher/Wox https://github.com/Wox-launcher/Wox its what I went to when Launchy stagnated. Its one of the first things I install on new PC's

michielr 9y ago
Check out keypirinha http://keypirinha.com/ http://keypirinha.com/ if you like Wox. I prefer it over wox a lot.
- pingec 9y ago
  Defender flags the installer as virus :/

poopchute 9y ago

That calc example is the exact reason I uninstalled libre office. Google sheets is good enough for everything I need

flamedoge 9y ago

giant screw up with typeahead

mathiasrw 9y ago

Avafind is da thing if you are on Windows.

wazoox 9y ago

Doesn't affect me because I've been using Qalculate as a calculator for years. "qalc" is qalculate, "calc" is LibreOffice. Problem solved :)

madengr 9y ago

There used to be a program called X10. It would index into Lotus Notes, word docs, PDFs; everything on my computer. It worked great for about a year, then was bought out and went to shit. All this AI search stuff is garbage.

starik36 9y ago

In addition to the tools others mentioned, check out Agent Ransack. It's like visual grep and it's fantastic for finding text in document (including binary docs). It runs on demand only so it won't sap any of the system resources.

panarky 9y ago

Type 'upda' to get Windows Update, but instead it shows Java's updater. 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?

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
gt_ 9y ago
I just played this game a few minutes ago with Device Manager. I have developed a habit that when I search the Start menu, I slowly type one letter at a time and wait for the result each time.
- ianlevesque 9y ago
  Just right click the windows menu next time, everything you could want is in there.
mysterypie 9y ago
I think that explains what the programmers who wrote Cortana were thinking. The reasoning must have been as follows: - 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.
- therein 9y ago
  > 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?

wrycoder 9y ago

One app search engine I deal with: type “remo” and hesitate a heartbeat. System fills “remove”, meanwhile I finish “ve<enter>” and the system searches for “removeve”.

PeachPlum 9y ago

man locate

beojan 9y ago

Have you tried KRunner?

derimagia 9y ago

I've been trying out Listery (http://www.listary.com/ http://www.listary.com/) which is the best thing to Alfred on Windows I can find. Like an updated Launchy.