Based on Tiger's style of Spotlight searching

Houdah Software are testing a new Mac file-finding utility called Tembo inspired by the Spotlight interface of OS X 10.4 (Tiger). The public beta, hosted at the "Made at Gloria" software "brewery," is intended to make finding files even easier through the use of re-orderable categories, which can be enabled or disabled at will. The intent is to make zeroing in on a precise "hit" from a long list of results faster.

Tembo leverages Spotlight but presents the results by type with RSS-style filters for where and when the search should be limited, a search only by a specific category and a "drill down" feature that allows numerous results to be further pared down. By comparison, 10.6's Spotlight gives users the first three results in each category, requiring a further click to show all results and then offering no further breakdown.

The program is particularly useful as an extension to Mail or iChat to quickly locate specific messages. It can also be used alongside Safari for searching history or bookmarks.

The public beta of Tembo is free. Users are encouraged to report any bugs or discuss issues at Houdah's forums. The final product will be available through the Mac App Store for $20.

by MacNN Staff