Google opens up a Sidebar

Google has released an updated beta version of its desktop search tool, adding a Sidebar feature with functionality that could pose a serious challenge to Microsoft and other rivals.

Google Desktop 2 (available for free download) will automatically search a user’s PC and build an index of all its file content.

A Quick Find feature allows users to instantly locate files with relevant content, as well as launch applications from within the Google framework. Just type in “exc…”, and one of the first results to display dynamically as you type is a link to the Excel program ­ click it to launch it.

Along with the new “intelligent” Sidebar, Google has delivered enough real estate to build up a desktop interface that users will find compelling ­ and potentially move them further away from the Windows desktop interface. The gloves are clearly off.

The Sidebar offers convenient access to a range of information sources that Google automatically personalises for you. A news panel will learn what news services and stories interest you, and display more of the same; a Web Clips panel will search for the RSS and Atom feeds you’ve already used, and add them automatically.

All the hard work of adding these feeds is done for you ­ all you need do is go through and delete the ones you no longer favour.

The Sidebar can link with Outlook and Gmail to allow you to view incoming email; a Scratchpad panel lets you jot down notes; Quick View lets you build up bookmarks of favourite web pages and bookmarks to favourite Office document files (mingling the Microsoft and Google worlds); and a Photos panel creates a permanent slideshow of recently viewed photos ­ either stored locally or on web pages you visit.

The most significant departure is that Google Desktop 2 does a lot of the configuration automatically ­- it compiles its basic index at times when the computer is not in use. So when we went to lunch, we found it had a full index of all our files ready on return.

You can check the indexing status by selecting the Index Status option on the Sidebar’s main menu. This will show how many files on your PC have been searched, and the time when the last one was added (or saved). There’s also a link here to Google’s Desktop privacy policy ­ which many will want to read closely, to be reassured that Google is not mirroring their data or amassing vast swathes of personal information from our desktops.

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