Outlook 2007 Instant Search Enabled: Is Anyone else CONFUSED?

[funnybroad]

Upon running Outlook for the first time, I got this prompt: “To enable the
Instant Search feature in Outlook, you must download and install a component
for Microsoft Windows. You must restart Outlook after installing this
component. Do you want to go to the Microsoft Download Center to download
this component now?â€

I said “Noâ€

I noticed a bar displayed in the message list pane that said: “Click here
to enable Instant Searchâ€. Clicking that gives you the same prompt, “To
enable the Instant Search feature…. etc... â€

I clicked “Noâ€

I wanted to search a folder for an item, so I right-clicked on the
folder.... no "search" or "find" option on the pop-up menu.

So I went to the Tools menu to look for a "Search" or a "Find" menu item.
All I found was the "Instant Search" item.

But I know I haven't enabled "Instant Search" yet!!! Where do I go to just
do a normal search? I couldn't find anything else, so I decided to go ahead
and try the "Instant Search" options anyway.

So, I tried the first option under the "Instant Search" menu group item...
It's also called “Instant Searchâ€.

This opened up a blank form field with a magnifying glass to the far right…
just above the bar that is still displaying the message “Click here to enable
Instant Searchâ€

I typed a search string “performance†and hit the magnifying glass icon.
This resulted in a search being performed, with the results displayed in that
panel as “Search Resultsâ€.

Here is why I am confused:

If you don’t have Desktop Search installed, you are prompted/reminded in
multiple ways to “enable Instant Searchâ€. (I know you can turn this behavior
off in Advanced settings... but the default setting is "on").

If you opt NOT to download and install the component, the “Instant Searchâ€
menu items seem to work anyway.

Also, the “Advanced Find†(the old familiar way to search for things under
Outlook 2003) is under a menu called “Instant Search†which again…. Isn’t
considered “enabledâ€.

I know that in Advanced Options, you can “unselect†the option to display
the reminders to enable Instant Search, but why present a menu item called
“Instant Search†that performs some kind of a search that might not be the
‘genuine’ Instant Search until you enable it?

Another confusing behavior is that while the search is being performed, a
big RED X is displayed in place of the magnifying glass. The first time I
saw this, I thought that there had been some kind of error. It actually
means that the search is working, and you shouldn’t click there again.

Am I the only one confused by all this???

 

[Brian Tillman]

I wanted to search a folder for an item, so I right-clicked on the
folder.... no "search" or "find" option on the pop-up menu.

So I went to the Tools menu to look for a "Search" or a "Find" menu
item. All I found was the "Instant Search" item.

But I know I haven't enabled "Instant Search" yet!!! Where do I go
to just do a normal search? I couldn't find anything else, so I
decided to go ahead and try the "Instant Search" options anyway.

I haven't had a lot of chance to play with OL 2007 yet, but from my limited
experimentation, it looks like Find and Advanced Find from prior versions
have been replaced with Instant Search.

 

[funnybroad]

From what I can tell so far, they haven't been "replaced", they've just been
shoved aside:
1) They removed the ability to right-click a folder and select "Advanced
Find" from a pop-up menu
2) They removed the "Tools / Find" menu group, did away with the plain
"find..." option, and took the remaining (Advanced Find, Find Public Folder,
Related Messages, and Messages from Sender) and shifted those to the end of
the selections under a new menu group "Tools / Instant Search".
3) They removed the "Advanced Find" icon shortcut as a default in the
default toolbar(s). You can customize a toolbar, and add it back, but you
won't get the old familiar icon (little yellow folder with a magnifying glass
with the word "find" next to it)... You'll just get "Advanced Find..."
spelled out.