Comment 60 for bug 646724

I think the dash is revolutionary compared to the old way of finding files and applications. It presents the user with a much simpler and more intuitive way to get to what they're looking for. But it's useless to me if I can't really use it to find stuff, or if I can only find a small subset of my home content. Right now it's really nothing more than a novelty, and not very useful for files and folders. I hope that changes in the near future. IMHO, the concept is so far ahead of what MAC and Windows currently offer. It's really unity's biggest selling point., but it has to actually work.

The solution is really quite simple, if you can take your dev hat off for a second and see it from a user's standpoint. Show recent files and folders first, with a button to press to do a deeper search. The button needs to be obvious and visible, not hidden away on the "filter results" menu. In fact, it could be a few buttons, e.g. "one week, one month, 6 months, one year, show all." Much like a browser history. You could put them all in a drop down menu.

You could wait to implement everything through Zeitgeist, but why not offer a temporary fix using Linux's built in search functions. Use locate first, and then keep going with find. If locate finds what the user's looking for, the search stops when they click on it. That way, potential users won't just dismiss Unity as beta software and go elsewhere. They may not be willing to give it another try for 12.04. Especially after they spend 1-2k on a Macbook. I have several potential users lined up, but I'm hesitant because of stuff like this. The idea is to wow them with how convenient and intuitive it is, rather than to disappoint and frustrate.