Make Spotlight easier to read

By default when viewing a Spotlight "all results" window or a Smart Folder or Search, the view is set to "icon view" and the file names are truncated, making it very hard to find the exact file you want.

You can switch the search results to "list view" but you may find that the setting doesn't stick. Well, there's good news. Under Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, there's a way to make the view settings for all Smart Folders and the "All Results" search window stick.

1. Open the Finder.
2. Under "Search for" in the sidebar, click on one of the search items (for example, All Documents). (If you don't have any smart folders there, just do a Spotlight search and choose Show All.)
3. Switch the view to "List view" or whatever view you are comfortable with.
4. In the menu bar, click View > Show View Options, or press Command-J on your keyboard to open the View Options window.
5. Check "Always open in list view".
6. Close the view settings window, and then close the Finder window.

From now on, your search results will be easier to hunt through.

This hint only work with 10.5