HoudahSpot user reviews
Best of the Spotlight alternatives
Finally, my files seem to belong to me again - I can now find them all. I particularly like the detailed control it gives over searches: eg “find all files modified in the last 36 hours other than folders” or “find all files of type A, containing the word B, in folder C, modified before date D, other than those containing word E in the filename”. You can save complex searches and recall them with a keyboard shortcut. Its quite helpful to study the templates in the menubar (eg 'Long lost files'). It was only when I did this that I finally grasped how to set up a boolean "not" search.
maudlin at VersionTracker.com
One really nice feature of
HoudahSpot is that it allows you to create
'templates' which are basically custom
configurations of file types, modification date, text
content, etc. These templates, when refined to suit your
workflow, have potential to become huge time
savers, of course, only you will know how to tweak
them to suit your needs.
For mine though the one place that HoudahSpot actually
manages to outshine Spotlight (he he) is
in its results display. HoudahSpot uses a tab system to
show the actual file (like in a columned
Finder window), an 'inspector' (more
detailed information about the selected file) and a
'preview' window... which is only a
'preview' in so much as it displays the ENTIRE content of
the file selected in the results window
ElroyOnline
Many users will feel a bit overwhelmed at first, because
coming from the simple Spotlight interface to all of these
options can make your head spin. But slowly, you will
realize that all of these options are GOOD. This is
what Spotlight searching should have been from the very
beginning. If all you can do is check it out, then
do it, because as soon as you do, you will be hooked on the
undeniable power of this superb program.
The Grantonian Online
I recommend trying HoudahSpot as a GUI for Spotlight. It
lets you set up just to search for filenames like the old
10.3 "Find" command, and it has a full set of filtering
abilities for increasing control. HoudahSpot has
made me stop cursing Spotlight. And when I need to
actually search a disk instead of the questionable
Spotlight database, I use EasyFind.
MacInTouch Reader
One of the coolest features I liked about HoudahSpot was
it’s use of Query By Example. Basically,
one has to drag a file to a criteria and it will reflect
the file’s property.
Yusuf Goolamabbas
This is Spotlight how Apple should have done it originally.
Apple, take note!
MacFevre
From now on, HoudaSpot is definitely my new serach utility.
koon33
It’s how Spotlight should have been from the get-go.
Rats! In My Brain!
Power "search" users will appreciate the added benefit of
templates which allow up to 10 keyboard shortcut activated
queries to run on demand (for those routine queries that
may be run on a daily or weekly basis).
5thirtyone.com
Pretty cool app this. Found quite a few
large files that I didn't know about. Freeing up some nice
space. Fantatsic.
The_Englishman
The preview feature is great! Plus, you
can play a found audio file right from within the app to
make sure it's the correct one.
MacFevre
HoudahSpot is an interface or frontend for Spotlight's
search engine. It adds new search criteria. It is
like the difference between Google and Google's Advanced
Search Page.
Arbitrary Chronicles
The power and ease of the logic statements makes HoudahSpot
one of the most powerful searching apps on the
Mac.
Dan’s Thoughts
Well, I can say that after 5 minutes of using it, it is
exponentially more useful than the Finder’s Find command. I
don’t know that it will replace the regular, quick
Spotlight window, but, so far I think it definitely beats
the Finder hands down for more complex queries, and for
saved searches!
blogorthodox
So, if you’re using Tiger, and were a little underwhelmed
by Spotlight, you might want to check this one out.
Josh Buhler
Houdah Software Hits The Spot
Macs Are Better
It’s one of those little programs that you say “I don’t
need that” and then after using it a few times you say
“How’d I live before I started using
this?!?”
cyclingplatypus.com
I am impressed by this piece of software,
and would highly recommend all Mac Users give it a try. It
is clearly worth the price of admission if you have large
hard drives with thousands upon thousands of files.
Juan Cherry
This reminds me of the find features on 9 series Macs, but
better. Very user friendly and has a super Preview option
that lets you save time from opening an incorrect file.
This will definitely be my new find engine. So much more
efficient than the basic finder on Mac OSX.
Cheryl
Spotlight is great, but its interface leaves one wanting.
Its difficult to specify location, file type, date
modified, and other types of file data without going out of
your way to learn spotlight commands. HoudahSpot
introduces a whole new way to interact with
Spotlight.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Deutsch
HoudahSpot treibt die Sache auf die Spitze und lässt mit Hilfe der Suchengine von Mac OS X Tiger die Suche von Dateien auf noch viel detailliertere Art und Weise zu. Das beste an der ganzen Sache ist die Live-Vorschau von Dokumenten etc. wie ich finde, da sich dort eine Ansicht des Inhalts eines Word-Dokument z.B. direkt ansehen lässt.
Takeo’s Blog
Mit dem Ding kann man über verschiedene Suchparameter alte verwaiste Dateien im Dschungel der eigenen Festplatte wiederfinden.
disturbed reality
