From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Google Quick Search Box (QSB) is an application launcher and desktop search
tool developed by Google for
Mac OS X computers. It
allows users to search files, URLs, and contacts on their computer,
as well as performing actions on the results.
History and
status
QSB was first released as a developer preview on January 12,
2009.[1] It is
still in beta, and a new version is released
approximately monthly. The releases follow the sequence of chemical elements from the periodic table.
The first public release was named Scandium and As of August 2009 the current
release is Cobalt.[2]. Like
other Google products such as the Chrome browser, QSB is open-source
software. However, just as with Chrome, Google distributes official
builds with extra functionality. In the case of QSB, this includes
plugin validation,
auto-update, and Google-branded icons. In
Mac
OS X Snow Leopard, QSB has replaced Google Desktop.
Comparisons to other
products
QSB is similar to another Google product, Google Desktop.
However, there are several key differences between the two
products:
- Operating system compatibility: While Google
Desktop is cross-platform, QSB is at present Mac-only software.
Comments in the source code may indicate future plans to release
for the iPhone.[3] Google currently has an app that allows users to search the web using the iPhone.[4]
- Search methodology: Google Desktop maintains
its own index of files for searching. It also indexes Gmail messages. QSB uses OS X's
built-in indexing technology, Spotlight. Because of this, QSB is
less resource-intensive than Google Desktop. However, there are
drawbacks. QSB does not support indexing of Gmail messages (because
Spotlight doesn't), and some aspects do not function if Spotlight
is disabled.[5]
- Search philosophy: Google Desktop offers a
search-only paradigm. On the other hand, QSB allows actions to be
defined, which can be applied to search result. For example, after
locating a file in QSB, it is possible to select among "open," "get
info," "move to trash" and other actions. In this respect, it is
similar to another OS X software tool, Quicksilver. The developer of
Quicksilver, Nicholas Jitkoff is employed by Google and is one of
the lead developers of QSB.[6]
- Extensibility: Both QSB and Google Desktop
offer plugin APIs. However, in QSB it is possible to add both
search result plugins and action plugins (integrating with the
actions described immediately above). Google indicates that there
is more leeway to expand QSB.[7]
Features
In addition to file search, QSB is distributed with a suite of
plugins that allow additional functionality. These include:
Criticisms
Users have noted that the functionality as compared to Desktop is
reduced, especially in the area of in-document text searching,
Gmail message searching and web history searching.
References
- ^
http://googlemac.blogspot.com/2009/01/search-without-effort-quick-search-box.html
- ^
http://code.google.com/p/qsb-mac/downloads/list?can=1
- ^
http://code.google.com/p/qsb-mac/source/browse/trunk/Vermilion/Vermilion/HGSResult.h,
line 43
- ^
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-mobile-app/id284815942?mt=8
- ^
See Aug. 5 message in this thread: http://groups.google.com/group/qsb-mac-discuss/browse_thread/thread/7709d9a3ecc24d9a/0ba963b84d91d182
- ^
http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/google-quick-search-box-looks-like-quicksilver-aint-it/
- ^
http://www.google.com/support/quicksearchbox/bin/answer.py?answer=150560
External
links
Wikis
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