The new spotlight search replaced what I previously used, made it function worse for what I used it for, and uses 30GiB of already very scarce disk space.

For many users, it is a strict downgrade that was forced on them against their consent.

Just because something is convenient or necessary for you, it doesn't mean it is convenient or necessary for everyone

I don’t want to make my search more ambiguous. That is the opposite of what I want.

Can it now consistently find things in /Applications when I type the full name?

That's revolutionary.