Windows Search 4.0
Microsoft has deployed Windows Search 4.0 for Vista and XP. Although I have the Windows Search Service disabled on my Vista computer, I can still utilize the Advanced Query Syntax available in Windows Search.
In Vista's Windows Explorer, there is no context menu item for searching. Instead, there is a search box in the upper right corner patiently waiting for input. You can hit the F3 key (or CTRL+F) to view a search dialog box, but you have to select Advanced Search in order to do an advanced search, i.e. search by date or file attributes. This can all be remedied by using the Advanced Query Syntax (AQS).
Using the AQS in the search field gives you powerful command options without having to open a command prompt. If you use Windows XP or Vista and ever search for files, give it a try. It can narrow your search results and drill down to the exact file(s) you need. It even uses inclusions, exclusions, and boolean operators.
Get it here.
Many people argue that Windows Search on Vista is badly broken. I use it often and I find no inconsistencies or errors, although I am very careful to check the properties of my folders and search options. I also have the Indexing and Search services turned off, and I use Find via a command prompt to search the contents of files. I can find 253 files with an average size of 350 MB in 47 separate directories within 3,804 folders with 166,176 other files which take up 177 GB on a 513 GB partition in 27 seconds. I do have a fast computer, but with these results why would I need Indexing turned on?
In most computers I have seen, the hard disk drive is the slowest component. With this known, you would think Microsoft would have Search and Indexing disabled by default, but with Apple and Google pushing their search features, I'm sure the Microsoft marketing machine felt it necessary.
More info here.