Public bug reported:

How it used to work till Ubuntu 12.10:
A - on the top of the window there used to be a search button. Only if you 
clicked it, a search textfield would appear and you could do a file search
B - on the other hand, without performing any search, just by typing the 
beginning of a file name, if a file or folder existed within the current folder 
that matched the typed string, it would be SELECTED.

Ok, both features needed some improvement, and particularly "B" had some
glitches, but the way they have been unified now is... I'll refrain from
saying what I was going to say and I'll just say it is NOT even closely
the right solution. Actually it's  much worse.

How it works now:
- on the top of the windows there is always a HUGE textfield for searching, 
which occupies a lot of space, and is always focused
- when you type a string, it is typed in that searchbox, and all the contents 
of the current window are FILTERED, meaning all the files or folders that don't 
match are hidden.
- when you do so, the current path stops being shown on the top (this is one of 
the worst parts)
- The possibility to type a partial filename and have the file/folder selected, 
but without hiding the rest and without hiding the path, is gone.

While this could be a good replacement for the old search proper, it is
a dramatic step backwards in usability for those who used to use the "B"
thing.


Why this is a terribly bad idea:
- this is SLOW. Selecting the matching files was fast; now filtering all the 
contents is much slower, and can become tremendously slow when the number of 
items in the folder is big
- you stop seeing the rest of files; while this may be desired in some cases, 
it may well be not, so one should be able to choose. In the old version you 
could choose: if you wanted a search you did a search, if you wanted to quickly 
select a file by typing its name, you wouid still see the rest of the files. We 
loose one option
- you stop seeing the path on the top (until you clear the contents of the 
search box, of course). That's annoying
- the always-present search textfield needlessly uses a lot of space whether or 
not you're going to use it

What are the advantages:
- can't think of a single one


It is an error to try to unify two totally different fetures, i.e. SEARCHING on 
one hand, and SELECTING an item by typing its name rather than clicking it, on 
the other hand; they have been unified into one feature that doesn't fulfill 
decently any of those two completely different needs; or perhaps one (the 
search) but definitely not the other.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
Package: nautilus 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu16
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-29.42-generic 3.8.13.5
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-29-generic i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8.3
Architecture: i386
Date: Mon Aug 19 16:47:10 2013
GsettingsChanges:
 b'org.gnome.nautilus.window-state' b'geometry' b"'1322x738+363+254'"
 b'org.gnome.nautilus.window-state' b'sidebar-width' b'180'
InstallationDate: Installed on 2010-06-23 (1153 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20100429)
MarkForUpload: True
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: nautilus
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to raring on 2013-08-10 (9 days ago)

** Affects: nautilus (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: apport-bug i386 raring third-party-packages

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1213961

Title:
  The new search "feature" is a huge step backwards in usability

Status in “nautilus” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  How it used to work till Ubuntu 12.10:
  A - on the top of the window there used to be a search button. Only if you 
clicked it, a search textfield would appear and you could do a file search
  B - on the other hand, without performing any search, just by typing the 
beginning of a file name, if a file or folder existed within the current folder 
that matched the typed string, it would be SELECTED.

  Ok, both features needed some improvement, and particularly "B" had
  some glitches, but the way they have been unified now is... I'll
  refrain from saying what I was going to say and I'll just say it is
  NOT even closely the right solution. Actually it's  much worse.

  How it works now:
  - on the top of the windows there is always a HUGE textfield for searching, 
which occupies a lot of space, and is always focused
  - when you type a string, it is typed in that searchbox, and all the contents 
of the current window are FILTERED, meaning all the files or folders that don't 
match are hidden.
  - when you do so, the current path stops being shown on the top (this is one 
of the worst parts)
  - The possibility to type a partial filename and have the file/folder 
selected, but without hiding the rest and without hiding the path, is gone.

  While this could be a good replacement for the old search proper, it
  is a dramatic step backwards in usability for those who used to use
  the "B" thing.

  
  Why this is a terribly bad idea:
  - this is SLOW. Selecting the matching files was fast; now filtering all the 
contents is much slower, and can become tremendously slow when the number of 
items in the folder is big
  - you stop seeing the rest of files; while this may be desired in some cases, 
it may well be not, so one should be able to choose. In the old version you 
could choose: if you wanted a search you did a search, if you wanted to quickly 
select a file by typing its name, you wouid still see the rest of the files. We 
loose one option
  - you stop seeing the path on the top (until you clear the contents of the 
search box, of course). That's annoying
  - the always-present search textfield needlessly uses a lot of space whether 
or not you're going to use it

  What are the advantages:
  - can't think of a single one

  
  It is an error to try to unify two totally different fetures, i.e. SEARCHING 
on one hand, and SELECTING an item by typing its name rather than clicking it, 
on the other hand; they have been unified into one feature that doesn't fulfill 
decently any of those two completely different needs; or perhaps one (the 
search) but definitely not the other.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
  Package: nautilus 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu16
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-29.42-generic 3.8.13.5
  Uname: Linux 3.8.0-29-generic i686
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8.3
  Architecture: i386
  Date: Mon Aug 19 16:47:10 2013
  GsettingsChanges:
   b'org.gnome.nautilus.window-state' b'geometry' b"'1322x738+363+254'"
   b'org.gnome.nautilus.window-state' b'sidebar-width' b'180'
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2010-06-23 (1153 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20100429)
  MarkForUpload: True
  ProcEnviron:
   TERM=xterm
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: nautilus
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to raring on 2013-08-10 (9 days ago)

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