Where has search view gone in Leopard

Question

Hi
Below is a feedback that I have sent to Apple regarding my user experience with Leopard and how things have changed, with the disappointing loss of features and functionality that was present in Tiger. I place this oversight, on Apple's part, on the same level of the disappearance of the hierarchical menus on folder in the Dock. For me it is worse as I never actually used folders in the Dock this way. I do understand the frustrations of those that do though.
What do you think?
Read on.
I am repeating this feedback because I find it unbelievable what has happened to searches with Spotlight Finder searches and Smart Folders in the transition to Leopard.
Spotlight searches have improved with added functionality but when it was introduced in Tiger the most exciting and visually usable feature of it was the separation of files into different file type categories in the Finder. I believe this was referred to as the search view and it used blue lines as separators. There was even a search view icon in the tool bar, where the column view usually is, to activate it and this was the default view when using the Finder to search and with smart folders.
This was very useful when working on a project. If I had a history of art project with images for a Picasso, Slavador Dali and Matisse these would be grouped together in a smart folder search and I could jump directly to a slideshow to view them. Now al I get is a jumble of files, images and text documents all together. Yes you can group them by kind but there are a lot more steps involved as there dose not seem to be a default view that sticks in this area: It is a moveable feast.
In any event the older search view was far superior, far more user friendly, and better to look at. The loss of this functionality is a big disappointment in Leopard and I am really surprised that this is not noticed by Apple
The other aspect of Spotlight/Finder/Smart Folder searches which is regressive are the location options at the top of the search windows, below the tool bar. The Options are This Mac or the current folder from which the search is initiated. If you decide that you should have applied the search on the Home folder you get backed out of the search when you you click the Home icon in the Finder sidebar. You then need to type the search word again in the search field and then change the location from This Mac to your user name.
In Tiger there were up to five location options that you could jump to within the search: Server, Computer, Home, the folder location from which you started the search and Others. This allowed searches to take place with far less steps.
The usefulness of the criteria Contents and File Name I would place as a far lower priority.
I hope that Apple can take into account that these criticisms highlight serious flaws in the design and ease of use of Leopard.

Answer 1

I have to say that I completely agree. I have also sent a form in to Apple about this a couple of weeks ago. It is also worth noting that if you wish to search for system files, you have to do so by pressing Opt-Cmd-Space, Pressing the + button on the filters bar, clicking the left drop-down menu, selecting "Other..." and checking "System Files." From that point forward, if you wish to search for system files, you hit Cmd-Opt-Space, click the + sign, select the left drop-down menu, selecting "System Files," selecting the right drop-down menu, choosing "include," and entering your search query, and then sorting through the mess of files that appears for what you want. Yuck!
I saved the System Files + include search query by clicking the Save button in the filters bar (why isn't it in the File menu as well so that there is consistency?) and then created a Quicksilver trigger so that Cmd-Opt-Space opens up the System Files.savedsearch, and then I can search system files just by entering the search query, selecting the "System Files.savedSearch" button after Finder decides that I really wanted to search "This Mac," and then sorting through the mess of files for what I want. It's still really tedious, but it's less so than the default option.
How did I search for system files in Tiger? Easy: I invoked Spotlight with Cmd-Space, entered the search query, and if I needed the extra functionality, selected "Show All," where I was presented with a nice, clean, organized interface that separated files by type. In this sense, Apple has really taken us quite a few steps backwards in usability, and it is highly disappointing and really quite shocking. It's like we were eating cake before, and now we have to eat dry biscuits. I sincerely hope Apple addresses this very soon, and that enough people contact Apple about this so that they get on in sooner.