Karelia Software has released a maintenance update for its popular Web content search tool, Watson. The new version, 1.5.5, is ready for download now.
Improvements in Watson 1.5.5 include better compatibility with Mac OS X 10.2, “Jaguar,” along with a new plug-in that supports Google, the popular Web search engine.
With some improvements in Jaguar’s own Sherlock 3 search tool, users may wonder why they’d still use Watson. Watson creator and Karelia president Dan Wood admitted that when Sherlock 3 was introduced Karelia was “disappointed, and had to cut back.” But that soon changed.
“We discovered that Watson is much faster than Sherlock 3, and boasts far more tools. We are still offering the Macintosh community a faster, more feature-rich alternative to Apple’s best efforts. Our team has been hard at work to keep Watson ahead of the pack,” said Wood.
The new Google plug-in permits simple and “advanced” search expressions that can be saved for later retrieval. It can also display multiple language character sets, and configure preferred languages. “Safe search” filters that weed out adult content can be locked in place, as well.
Watson 1.5.5 also features a new Amazon.com plug-in, an update to the Zip Code lookup plug-in and the ability to view tables with striped rows.
Watson is available as a fully functional time expiring demo. If you’ve given Watson a try before and want to see how these new features work, version 1.5.5 resets your two-week trial period. Watson costs $29 to license for a single user.