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Blogs I Read

Google Desktop Search 2 kicks butt!

Google just released a new version of their Google Desktop Search software.  It has tons of configuration options and a new "sidebar" to help you keep information ready at your fingertips.  As a developer, I also like the extensibility which now includes many 3rd-party file parsers and sidebar add-ins.  If you are interested in writing your own plugins, there are even a couple .NET Wrappers available.

There are numerous other improvements I havent mentioned, but you can read about here.

It seems like Google is always one step ahead of Microsoft in this arena. I don't care because its the end-users who benefit from such competition.

Score 1 for Google!

Posted: Aug 22 2005, 10:21 PM by CodeSniper | with 5 comment(s)
Filed under: , ,

Comments

Gal T said:

Go Go Google...
# August 23, 2005 8:10 AM

Anonymous said:

Did you know that
> http://www.desktopsidebar.com/
exists a couple of while out there. It is pretty amazing and i think it is also based up on .NET. There are many Panels & Skins on there page. Maybe Google Sidebar will be extensible like ds.

Just for your Information.
# August 23, 2005 10:47 AM

Lance Hunt said:

Yeah, there are several sidebars, especially since we all got our first glimpse of Longhorn beta (ahem...Vista) a year or two ago.

I definitely would love to see the google sidebar become skinnable. Its pretty plain right now. But at the panels are already extensible. I'm sure alot of existing panels and controls will be ported to GDS sidebar panels soon.

# August 23, 2005 10:59 AM

OmegaSupreme said:

Not that impressed. All those tiny panels can't beat a good old fashioned RSS reader with feeds I want. And why do I need photos and web clips. All these things seem to add nothing.

It also annoys me the way it moves all my carefully placed icons when maximised.

It's really just an info gathering tool for Google, spyware, gathering info on what sites I visit, what news I read and whats in my email so that they can sell super targeted ads. I don't really have a problem with that but its no killer app.
# August 23, 2005 4:27 PM

Lance Hunt said:

Actually, I agree with the fact the side-bar isnt a killer-app, but it is pretty nifty when you get used to it. Also, its less annoying if you enable "AutoHide" and remove all the unneccessary panels.

Truthfully, I'm more sold on the underlying desktop search engine. I have used it since they first released it in beta, and it has saved me countless hours of looking up old emails, finding content I had previously read on a website, and even searching through gigs of CSharp codefiles on my HD.

However, the sidebar does have some nice RSS integration you might checkout if thats really what gets you off.

Thanks for the feedback, I love to hear other perspectives on things.
# August 23, 2005 6:38 PM