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servo · Oct 31, 2007, 04:19 PM

I keep ready about how Spotlight is fast enough to act as an application launcher. On my brand new iMac at work (2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM) it seems pretty zippy. However, on my Macbook (2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo, 1 GB RAM) it takes at least a couple seconds for keystrokes to even register in the spotlight search bar. Is the Macbook that much slower or is something else afoot?
My Macbook does have a rather full drive at the moment so my spotlight DB is probably much larger than on the iMac. Could that contribute to it?

Mastrap · Oct 31, 2007, 04:46 PM

I've got the same MacBook model you've got and spotlight is almost instant in it's response. Might indeed have something to do with your full drive.

64stang06 · Oct 31, 2007, 05:08 PM

More than likely drive space is an issue. I installed a 250GB drive in my MacBook C2D and installed Leopard. Spotlight is very quick when searching now, esp. compared to Tiger.

servo · Oct 31, 2007, 05:11 PM

Okay, I'm in the process of organizing mine and my wife's iTunes libraries into one large single library so when I get that back to the iMac I'll rebuild the spotlight database and hopefully things will speed up.

workerbee · Oct 31, 2007, 05:12 PM

I've probably missed it, but: what sets Launchbar and Quicksilver apart from Spotlight is that they remember one's choices. Launchbar simply knows that PS means that I think of Photoshop, while Spotlight keeps showing whatever it thinks is most relevant as first choice.
(At least that was my impression during the few minutes I bravely tried to do without LB).

Mac User #001 · Oct 31, 2007, 06:04 PM

I've always used Spotlight as an Application launcher on my 1.2GHz iBook G4. But I keep my hard drive really clean, usually having about 10GBs left on a 30GB HD.

Its more than speedy compared to the rest of the system.

Cold Warrior · Oct 31, 2007, 06:15 PM

same model as the OP, but w/ 2 GB RAM. Spotlight is fast enough for an app launcher for me. I use it all the time now for that. The only Dock apps are those I use every day.

eggman · Oct 31, 2007, 06:24 PM

Spotlight basically bites as an application launcher.

Try to launch Photoshop with it. Even if I type in "Adobe Photo", it gives me "Adobe Stock Photos" rather than Photoshop.

I have never used Adobe Stock Photos. I use Photoshop many, many, times every day.
Quicksilver knows to show me Photoshop when I type [QS key combination] followed by "P".

Art Vandelay · Oct 31, 2007, 06:29 PM

It's learned in my experiences.

wobbly · Oct 31, 2007, 07:13 PM

Yes, the new dock and stacks (imperfections) won't be deal breakers for me possibly purchasing Leopard. Most all of my actions are through Spotlight. As was pointed out it is FAST, and it seems to remember.

For photoshop: with my hands never leaving the keyboard (this takes approx. 1-2 sec tops) I type "apple + spacebar" then "photos" and immediately photoshop appears as the top hit, so i next hit apple button again and then return...voila photoshop launched. This is on an aging ibook G4 and it is orders of magnitude faster than clicking through menus, submenues, Heirarhcical folderrs etc.

Between spotlight and the dock >95 % is taken care of.

The deal breakers with leopard for me are that spaces looks like 5HIT and time machine isn't bootable. I'll probably just wait for 10.6 or 10.7, as 10.4 seems to be the sweet spot on my aging ibook G4 and really no reason to upgrade for the eye candy.

mjankor · Oct 31, 2007, 07:26 PM

On my Macbook CD 1.83, 2GB ram it's very fast. I normally can't get to the return key before it's found the item

Regarding Photoshop, I tried "Adob" and "Phot" and both turned up Photoshop at the top of the list.

Ok that's interesting. Spotlight is learning as I go. If I type "P" It gives me the Airport Utility (As I've been using it a lot).

Now that I've loaded Photoshop from spotlight "P" now gives me Photoshop.

goMac · Oct 31, 2007, 07:49 PM

Spotlight is instant here in 10.5.

.Neo · Oct 31, 2007, 07:51 PM

Yup same here. Truly instant.

workerbee · Nov 1, 2007, 02:09 AM

Is it possible to get Spotlight to learn shorthands like "PS" for Photoshop, "AI" for (Adobe) Illustrator, or "DW" for Dreamweaver?
I tried "DW" for instance, and Dreamweaver did very quickly show up in the results window, only to disappear almost immediately, and never come back. Even when I open the results window, I can't find Dreamweaver.app anywhere.

Since I'm trying to pare my System down to as few helper apps as possible (FontBook instead of FontAgent Pro, no DefaultFolder yet...), I wouldn't mind trying a Launchbar-free setup -- even though it feels rather unthinkable, as until today I regarded a Launchbar-free mac as basically unusable