Ask HN: Why is the search experience on Mac OS so weak?

Search where and for what? Searching for local file contents (e.g. inside PDFs) using mdfind on the command line works pretty well for me.

I've had issues in the past with PDF search in Safari and Preview. Very pleased with Spotlight, though I keep hearing good things about Alfred.

Having Finder search the whole Mac by default (instead of current folder) is a bit of an annoyance.

What has been your experience?

What do you think is "so weak" about it?

What are you searching for?

How are you searching?

What do you think it ought to do that it doesn't do?

It is pretty annoying, it often changes it’s mind as you are hitting enter.

The file search seems particularly awful.

Better than Windows