Google Desktop 2 with Sidebar

The desktop search arena is an interesting one, with Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and even some independants all vying for your attention. Today, Google dropped a major upgrade to its desktop search tool appropriately called Google Desktop 2. This one includes a Sidebar, which allows you to view and manage just about every component of your search experience, including stock management, weather, Gmail, Outlook information, RSS, and instant messaging. This one is for Windows users only, but I don’t see too many Mac users complaining - after all, we have Spotlight.

We’ve also improved your desktop search experience. With Quick Find, you can now launch applications and see search results as you type without even opening a browser. We’ve also extended our Outlook integration, so you can search Google Desktop with the Outlook Toolbar and see results within Outlook itself. Finally, you can search even more stuff, including your Gmail, files on network drives, many Outlook data types (including Contacts, Tasks, Calendar, Notes and Journal) and MSN Messenger chats. And if you yearn for even stronger security, you can encrypt your entire index.

Read More | Google Desktop via DigitalTechNews