Google Desktop 2

Google has updated its software for searching PC hard drives and the
internet, giving the free program a new look and adding tools that deliver
personalised information based on a user's web surfing habits. Google
Desktop 2, available today as a public beta test, is the company's latest
volley against Microsoft and Yahoo as all three race to expand their
presence on PC desktops.

The software works on computers running Windows 2000 or Windows
XP. Mac OS X is not supported. The latest Google offering includes several
twists. Beyond providing search results, it monitors the user's behavior
and presents relevant information in a resizeable and moveable vertical
window called the Sidebar.

One module aggregates email messages from a variety of accounts,
including Google's Gmail service or the user's internet provider. Others
display stock prices, personalised news headlines, weather reports and
what's popular on the web. Another module pulls Really Simple
Syndication feeds from websites that have been visited and offer that
service. Unlike other feed aggregators, the user need not take any action
to add a feed.

The program has several tools for finding information buried on local and
network drives as well as the internet. The Sidebar has its own search
box and it adds a new toolbar to Microsoft's Outlook email program for
quick access to mail messages. After the initial indexing of all content on a
drive - a process that takes place when the PC is not being used,
subsequent indexing takes place in real time. That means a file can be
found as soon as it has been saved to the disk.

Google Desktop 2 also offers the ability to encrypt - or scramble - the
index to protect it from being read by unauthorised parties.