X1 Brings Instantaneous Search to Email, Attachments and PC Files

International Journal of Micrographics & Optical Technology, 2004

X1 Technologies, LLC has announced the availability of X1 Search, a new software tool that claims to find "information stored on a computer in seconds". The patent-pending Invisible Index technology powering X1 sorts through the thousands of email messages, attachments and files on a hard drive and finds just the one the user wants, narrowing and displaying results as fast as the user can type the search term.

X1 can be configured as a hideaway taskbar at the top of the user's screen or as a standard window. Users choose the email and files they want to include to create their index and then select the Email, Files or Attachments Tab to type their query. The company says that X1 "puts an end to the frustrating era of searching and waiting that most PC users have experienced when they attempt to locate a particular lost email or file using Outlook or the other most common desktop applications". With X1, users don't have to worry about giving files clever names, moving emails into special folders, or judiciously organizing their information for later retrieval. What's more, X1 allows new items to be dynamically added to the index without interrupting workflow or monopolizing system resources.

"We know that many PC users are wasting a tremendous amount of time searching for lost information, so we focused our efforts on developing a solution that allows them to find what they're looking for quickly and simply," said Mark Goodstein, founder and EVP, products for X1 Technologies. "X1 gives users a new-found control of their data-giving them the confidence that X1 will find their information without asking them to give up the programs they've become comfortable with - no matter if it is in an email, attachment or file."

"I used to fantasize that I'd organize my hard drive someday," said Jean-Louis Gassee, general partner at Allegis Capital, founder Be, Inc. and former president of Apple Computer's Products Division. "Now - without changing my filing methods - I can use X1 to find anything instantly, highlighted and ready to use. X1 is a real breakthrough product."

In addition to the generalized search that the File, Email and Attachment tabs provide, users are able to further drill down or narrow a search by entering specific email and file attributes (e.g. size, date, folder location, etc.), allowing them to quickly find an item without having to specifically remember what it's named or where it's stored. Outlook users can also index their local and global address books for quick searching of contact information, including data stored in the notes field.

X1 currently supports and indexes the email contents of Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape Mail and Eudora messages. X1's file filter technology allows users to preview and index the contents of 255 files in their native formats, regardless of whether the native applications are installed, so Word files look like Word documents, and Excel files like Excel spreadsheets, etc.

Power users enjoy the added benefit of having access to a wide range of features, including the ability to index network drives and public folders, multiple Outlook PST files (even if they're not loaded into Outlook), column filters and sorting, and commands that allow for the export of found data.

"X1 has changed it all for me," said X1 user Dimitri Linde, Managing Director, NumeriX LLC. "I just type in a keyword and in less than a second the message I'm looking for is right there on the screen, and already opened and showing. Now I could not live without it, and I can't imagine how other heavy email users can possibly get by without such a useful tool."

X1 can be purchased for $99 and is available for download at http://www.x1.com/ with volume pricing available. A full-featured, 15-day trial of X1 is also available online. The system requirements for X1 include Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP, 128 MB RAM (256 MB RAM recommended) and 25 MB of free hard disk space.

Contact X1 Technologies. Web: www.x1.com