Best Reviewed
Desktop Search Engines
- Best desktop search tool overall Google Desktop 5 *Est. $0
- Searches the most file types Copernic Desktop Search Professional 3.1 *Est. $50
- Fastest desktop search for PC Everything *Est. $0
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Searches the most file types
- Fast
- Easy to use
- Excellent previews, categorization of results
- Indexes WordPerfect, OpenOffice files
- Price (free version is limited)
- Doesn't index inside zipped files
- Doesn't index chats or Gmail
March 2009. Though Google Desktop improvements now challenge Copernic's popularity, reviewers still find Copernic the fastest and easiest desktop search engine to use. Reviewers also like the way Copernic categorizes results and previews files in their original formatting, highlighting the search terms. Copernic also indexes WordPerfect and OpenOffice files, and a free Copernic Mobile version lets you search your PC files from a mobile device. Users express disappointment that the free Home version shows ads and has been stripped of some features. In order to search network drives or Outlook tasks and appointments, you now have to upgrade to the paid Professional version. If you use Lotus Notes, you'll need Copernic Corporate (*est. $60). Copernic offers a free 30-day trial of both the Professional and Corporate versions. However, if you need to search Gmail or instant-message chats, reviews recommend Google Desktop 5 (free), though the results aren't as well previewed or categorized.
We found the most current review of Copernic Professional at PC World, where the differences between the Professional version and the free Copernic Home version are well summarized. Although the reviews at two download sites, Download.com and Snapfiles.com, cover the free version, users also comment on the Professional version. The comparison review at Lifehacker isn't based on objective testing but is current and includes a poll of over 2,000 users. We found excellent comparison tests of earlier versions at PC Pro (a U.K. site) and at Michael Lower's site, Kalio.com. We also found fairly recent single-product reviews of Copernic at MusTech.net and Web Worker Daily.
Our Sources
This review praises Copernic 3.0 for the way it "displays your results in a clear, easy-to-understand manner." The main differences between the Pro and free Home versions are well summarized here, including the ad display in the free version -- but the author isn't sure the Pro version's advantages outweigh its cost.
Review: Copernic Desktop Search Professional Version: 3.0, Liane Cassavoy, Sept. 2008
2. Download.com
CNET editors give this slightly earlier version of Copernic Desktop Search a rating of four stars out of a possible five, but more than 100 users give it a slightly lower average rating. Complaints from the handful of users adding comments include incompatibility with Windows 7, memory leaks and installing unwanted, non-removable extensions in Firefox.
Review: Copernic Desktop Search 3.0.0 Build 74, Editors and contributors to Download.com, Sept. 2008
Editors at this download site give the free version of Copernic Desktop Search a perfect five-star rating, but the average rating is only four stars from about two dozen users -- some of whom complain that version 2, though problematic, still provided more features than the only free version now available, Copernic Home 3.
Review: User Reviews: Copernic Desktop Search, Contributors to SnapFiles.com, 2004-2008
Copernic earns kudos in this comparison review for its excellent previews, but a poll of over 2,000 (mostly tech-savvy) readers ranks it toward the bottom in popularity.
Review: Five Best Desktop Search Applications, Adam Pash, Aug. 14, 2008
5. PC Pro
This older review gives an earlier version, Copernic Desktop Search 2, top ranking among five desktop search engines, rating it five stars on a six-point scale. Copernic wins points for using minimal system resources yet providing fast search results in a very usable interface.
Review: Product Reviews: Copernic Desktop Search 2, Editors of PC Pro, Mar. 2007
6. Kalio
Older objective tests here find Copernic 1.6, a much earlier version, faster than Google Desktop 4 but slower than Yahoo! Desktop Search (now X1). The specifications chart in this review is slightly outdated but extremely detailed, noting that Copernic indexes WordPerfect, OpenOffice and StarOffice files but not zipped or chat files.
Review: Evaluation of Desktop Search Applications, Michael Lowe, 2006
7. MusTech.net
Joseph M. Pisano, a musician and fine-arts professor, gives Copernic a rave review based on his personal use of several free and paid desktop search engines, including Google Desktop and the search built into Windows Vista (Desktop 4). Copernic wins points for excellent previews and overall ease of use.
Review: Computer Organizational Secret #1: Copernic Desktop Search - Freeware, Joseph M. Pisano, Jan. 6, 2009
This reviewer praises Copernic Desktop Search for its speed and the fact that it doesn't slow his system, finding it faster than the search built into Windows Vista.
Review: Copernic Desktop Search Finds it Fast, Samuel Dean, Sept. 8, 2008
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