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Inquisitor 1.0 (Beta 1)

I’m pleased to announce that the first beta of Inquisitor is now available for download. Inquisitor is a predictive-search extension for Safari with a simple and sensible interface (with some interface flourishes for effect). It augments the Safari web search field with predictive search capabilities.

Predictive search has two really compelling uses:

Auto-completion: Suppose you want to search for the keyword “acquisition”. With Inquisitor, you need only type “acq”. The remainder is filled in automatically since Inquisitor knows that “acquisition” is what most people will end up typing.

Query suggestion: Suppose you type in “ipod”, but aren’t really sure how to make the query more specific. Inquisitor provides a list of common queries involving the “ipod” keyword, such as “ipod shuffle”, “ipod mini”, “ipod accessories”, “ipod cases”, etc. Pick one and go.

Inquisitor 1.0 is freeware. If you want to send a token of appreciation or encourage the continued refinement of Inquisitor, tips/donations are graciously accepted.

Please note that this release requires Mac OS X Tiger – a Panther-compatible version is a possibility for the future.

  • June 6th, 2005 5:41 pm

9 comments...

Sam...

Wow, that works even better, smoother and faster than I imagined it would after your first post!

Truly brilliant! Looks great too.


Ahmad...

Works great. I just love your software and interface design craftsmanship.

Thanks


Peter...

This is awesome, thanks!

I would like to be able to hit shift-up to select the entire search field, like you can with the Google field Inquisitor replaces. That’s really a minor issue though. I really like this software.


Tim...

Works like a charm. Great interface.

Tim


Tim...

Interesting. Inquisitor doesn’t keep a search history, but doesn’t really need to with it’s predictive behaviour. What about having previous searches highlighted a little? I assume ‘popular’ items will eventually worm their way up to the top of the list?


Simon...

Great job! Being a user of NewsFire, I had some pretty high expectations of this application, and I haven’t been disappointed! I think the whole idea is really great, and especially how seamless it is with the search box. Keep up the great work!

My one request has nothing to do with the application itself, but I think it would be really interesting to find out how it predects what I’m searching for. My history? My bookmarks? Google’s statistics? Telepathy? Maybe just a bit on the webpage would be nice. Just a thought.


Tim...

Here’s a feature request; it would be great if I were able to (Command | Option | Control)-enter after Inquisitor found, say, Amazon and that would take me to Amazon.com; or the address associated with that search term. Take care.


pketh...

Does it also have adaptive searching? Like quicksilver or whatever, that sorta ‘learns’ new terms you type? Overall though , it looks awesome – on my way to download it now! :D


Will...

David, your work never fails to disappoint. Great app. Since this app is free, it would be awesome if you decided to open source the project. Tim’s suggestions sounds awesome…at least a modifier key to go to the “I’m feeling lucky” result.