Google Desktop 2: Now with 100% More Sidebar!
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Written By Reprise Media | August 22, 2005 | Share This
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Google has announced the public beta of Google Desktop 2, the latest version of its free software which lets users search their PCs for relevant files. This release ups the ante in the ongoing battle of the Big 3 (Yahoo, Microsoft, Google) for control over user desktops and advertiser dollars.
There are lots of new features in this one, the most talked-about of which is Sidebar, a moveable vertical panel which sits on the desktop and provides convenient access to aggregated personalized content updated automatically from the web. A RSS reader automatically adds web feeds and learns more about user preferences over time. Says Google Product Manager Nikhil Bhatla:
“For the novice, it’s very easy. They don’t even have to know what RSS feeds are. They’ll just start seeing them in the Sidebar. Advanced users can go in and customize to their hearts’ delight.”
The Internet Stock Blog has a summary of media reactions as well as a great article by David Jackson titled Four Implications of Google Sidebar.
This latest offering shows that great search alone will no longer cut it. It’s all about having the talent and capital it takes to build great tools and then developing a sound strategy to tie them all together and lock in users.
Loren Baker of Search Engine Journal has more.
Topics: Google |