It seems to me your chief objection to Spotlight is predicated on your assumption of those who already have huge inventories of files which they must -- in order to get the most from Spotlight -- retrofit with keywords and other meta data and this is quite a formidable task which most people will be loathe to undertake. Your chief point seems to be that the return on investment (of time and labor to prepare one's file library) is marginal. And I'm sure for many people you are right on target.

But what you don't seem to understand is that this is true of all shifts of paradigms. To migrate or adapt the legacy approach to the new approach is always problematic. This is not, however, an indictment of the new approach but rather this is simply one of the trade-offs in evolutionary change.

Many young people buying computers for the first time will begin their file inventories with a meta data sensibility. They will -- on a file-by-file basis -- add the proper keywords and they will not see it as a chore because they will be doing this as the files are created. Just as a "Save as" now includes naming the file, storing the file in a specific location, etc., in the Tiger world, it will likewise include adding keywords and other meta data. It will become part of the administrative overhead of file maintenance -- and it will be accepted as the norm.

One day people will not even bother with a static folder structure because it requires them to categorize their files in a fixed and very narrow way. For example, if I have a document which contains a score of a Mozart symphony, do I store that in my Music folder, in a Mozart folder, in a "Classical" folder, or in a "Music Notation" folder? Answer -- under the new model, it simultaneously belongs in all of these classifications. And this is the beauty of smart folders; it allows dynamic organization of files based on an individual's specific criteria at any given time.

It won't be long when the idea of hard-coding a fixed folder structure will seem very confining and archaic and old school. And I think you need to get on board with this new paradigm and broaden your vision. Don't evaluate the efficiency of Spotlight on the basis of the legacy structure which it inherits but rather on the basis of what it can do.

Now, sure, at the end of the day, if people refuse to categorize their files with meta data, Spotlight's use will be constrained. But of what software can this NOT be said? Software is only as good as the person who uses it. If you educate yourself about only a fraction of what software can do, is that the software's fault?

A good and simple interface gets you only so far. Even the best interface cannot yet read your mind. We don't have neural nets quite yet. This isn't the age of StarTrek. So in order for a person to get the most out of this tool we call a computer, he must provide some preliminary information. If he folds his arms and refuses to do so, and if he expects the computer to second-guess his intentions, then he will be in for a big disappointment -- and apparently this is where you are today.

"Also, what use is it to search for something which cannot -- once found -- be viewed, edited, accessed?"

It's useful because by finding the item, it can tell you which media it's on. I forget the name, but there have been apps for cataloging removable media, it simply prompts Please insert disk XYZ. Obviously, you'd want to make it an option/preference whether removalble media are indexed.

I'm letting this go. People are discussing theory - I'm trying to deal in practice.

I work with bright college-aged kids and 80+ year olds and everyone in between.

And clearly, people in this forum are brighter AND more knowledgable than most users.

At this point, I will agree to disagree. As capable as Spotlight is, it's not on the radar for the average Mac user and the reviews and how-to articles I've read will not change that. Most of what it is capable of has already been possible long before now on our platform (and not used).

Dealing with images can work well with keywords, but there are other options that work well that neither require the time adding keywords takes, nor the sillyness of looking for a picture with words (and I'm certainly not talking about iPhoto).

At the end of the day - it's not about what tools one used - it's about who gets the job done well, on time and under budget. Technology is to serve us - not the other way around.

Currently Spotlight as of 10.4.1 still has numerous bugs. But it still is the best new OS X feature since Expos. Here are some workarounds for things that I've found.

Date problems with Smart Folders: The worst problem that I've found is that some of the Date searches don't find anything before Jan 1, 2001. Specifically Created before 1/1/2001 and Last Modified before 1/1/2001. What is very odd is that they work on Home, but not on Computer which seems to me should encompass Home as well as any other visible file on the Computer. Also, oddly, while Last Modified doesn't work right, Last Opened seems to work flawlessly.

Work around: The work around is also a bit odd. There are two additional attributes that aren't listed by default in the list that seem to be the functional equivalents of Created and Last Modified. They are "Content Created" and "Content Modified". They are found in the long list of attributes available in the Other... item of the attributes drop down menu list. They work exactly as expected. So, the easy work around is to add them both to your Favorites list for easy access (check the Add to favorites Checkbox when using them for the first time.)

Spotlight doesn't default to find by filename: This wasn't a problem for me until I read a complaint here on a different thread. Once I found the work around though, I found I was using it all the time. The problem is that many times you want to search based only on a filename. This was the default in previous versions of OS X and in Mac OS before it. The solution is also to be found in the list of attributes in the Other... page.

Workaround: If you go to the Other... page in the drop down list of attributes, you can find an attribute named Filename. Like the date work around, add it to your list of Favorites. I have no idea why this isn't a default attribute in the list already but it is pretty easy to add and very useful. Now you can search for files that begin, contain, end or are exactly something while adding other conditions such as date used or kind. This seems especially useful if you frequently want to search for applications. Which leads into the last on my list.

The Spotlight menu is too generic and produces too many results: I find that I'm not using the Spotlight menu bar search very often. Instead I have several saved searches in my Dock. Saved searches (Smart Folders) are great. They provide a completely new way of working with the Finder and I think a lot of people complaining about Spotlight haven't tried them yet. If you take the last example of searching for a filename and create a Smart Folder you can save that SF and put it in your Dock. Now just type the filename into the window and you can simulate the command-f functions of previous OS X versions.

Also there are two modes for Smart Folder Windows. The normal Finder window and there is a new search window that appears if you click on the oval window modifier button in the top right corner of the window. This is very useful for a saved search because the cursor focus defaults to the search box. So I have an Smart Folder that is set to look only in the Applications folder and search for kind Applications. The search box allows me to narrow down the search to whatever I'm looking for by name. Very handy and it searches sub-folders too so it finds things in the Utilities folder as well.

I hope you are not getting into flamethrower mode Mincey, it's all just ideas and considerations after all.
Yes, there are things to be concerned about IT wise, but you ask "why search for something that is unavailable?" Well, it could be a database of various DVD backup in which I have no idea where the latest backup of a particular file is located. If the volume is unavailable, the filename could be grayed out, but at least you know which DVD the file is located. I don't know, I'm just throwing out possibilities that might be controled by a simple preference checkbox. If you remember my original post, you could choose which kind of indexing can be done.

Upon reading jdb8167's post (he should be replying to me because I think you both are on the same page) that perhaps my idea is not the best. I indeed am thinking like someone using his Mac at home rather than a large network, and there my local/remote index would be a nightmare.

Schneb makes a good point and it serves to remind us all that Spotlight is not merely a utility invocable within the Finder but it is also a technology and API which independent applications can exploit to full advantage. This far eclipses anything which the old "Find" could do.

I usually don't respond to forums postings, but this one particualrly irks me.

What I find problematic here is that there is a group of intermediate to highly advanced Mac users here and a good number of you all are speaking for "most users" as if most users' experience, needs and criteria mirror your own.

I'm atypical of you all in this forum. I've been an enthusiastic Mac user since 1992, but I'm a WISYWIG web creator, not a coding expert; I use AppleWorks (still), not Office for Mac or Nissus; I don't have the time, energy, or even in many cases to sift through the arcana of the OS. Guess what? MOST users are like me, who use Macs for work and/or play but do not engage in endless debates about whether or not Dashboard is a ripoff of Konfabulator because one is integrated in the OS and the other is an add-on application.

With that said, Spotlight was targeted for peolpe like ME. Someone with hundreds, even thousands of files, dozens of applications (I have about 180+ apps), and whose organization skills do not match those of Mousollini. So when I want to find a file, or a folder, or whatnot, I don't have to dig through dozens and dozens of folder through the HD and file structure to find it. And you know what? Spolight has proved to be an invaluable TOOL for me to find everything from files I usually access all the time to those I'd long forgotten about. The average user meaning most people are looking for that kind of functionality, not whether Spotlight can do your dishes and wash your drawers.