Ask HN: Why is the search experience on Mac OS so weak?

[ent101]

[johndoe0815]

Search where and for what? Searching for local file contents (e.g. inside PDFs) using mdfind on the command line works pretty well for me.

[gandalfff]

I've had issues in the past with PDF search in Safari and Preview. Very pleased with Spotlight, though I keep hearing good things about Alfred.

Having Finder search the whole Mac by default (instead of current folder) is a bit of an annoyance.

What has been your experience?

[warrenm]

What do you think is "so weak" about it?

What are you searching for?

How are you searching?

What do you think it ought to do that it doesn't do?

[yuppie_scum]

It is pretty annoying, it often changes it’s mind as you are hitting enter.

The file search seems particularly awful.

[willcate]

Better than Windows