What's nice is that once the original index is built, Lookout dynamically adds new messages to the index as they come in or are created and sent out.

I don't know what algorithm Lookout uses to create its indexes, but it's damned impressive.

Seek and ye shall find
Lookups typed into Lookout's toolbar are instantaneous. You've got to see it to appreciate it. I typed in the very same search I ran overnight a few weeks ago, and the results showed up in under a second using Lookout.

Lookout presents a simple, but clear results window, shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B

Results show up immediately. Click picture for a larger image.

Lookout Software, the folks who created Lookout, have a bit of a hokey Web site, where they go out of their way to claim Lookout is like Google for Outlook. They take it to an extreme, designing the Lookout logo to be similar to Google's. To be honest, the reason I hadn't looked at this product sooner was because the Web site looked like more hype than substance.

The reality is these guys can code and their marketing looks like their site was built by folks who can code. That doesn't matter. This thing is still the bee's knees.

There is some similarity to Google, in that Lookout supports complex queries using a syntax similar to Google's advance search syntax. It also supports additional query structures, allowing you to limit your searches to certain folders and dates. You can see an example of this in Figure C.

FIGURE C

Lookout has very powerful search query syntax. Click picture for a larger image.

You can also choose to have Lookout index and search your My Documents folder. I didn't try this because I wasn't sure how to limit my searches to everything but My Documents, and, honestly, I spend far more time needing to find email messages than files in My Documents. That said, it's a handy feature to have.

At this point, I'm reminded of those infomercials where the host asks, "How much would you be willing to pay? Would you be willing to pay $149? Of course you would. It's that good. Would you be willing to pay $99? Even better. Would you be willing to pay just $49? For this product, it'd be a steal. What about $29? Marge, where's the VISA?"

Here's where Lookout got its fifth star. It's free. At least it is for now. Apparently, Lookout Software plans to make it a commercial product, and when they do, they'll charge $29.95 for a copy. While I encourage you to run, don't walk, to your nearest browser and download a copy of the free product, I can categorically say this product is well, well worth the $29.95 asking price. Frankly, it'd be worth considerably more. It's that good.

What, are you still here? Go, download this thing.

OUR RATING: 5 of 5

For more than 20 years, David Gewirtz, the author of Where Have All The Emails Gone? and The Flexible Enterprise has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and can be reached via email at david@zatz.com.