Google recently released a new and improved desktop search beta, Google Desktop Search 2. The search allows you to search your desktop as well as Outlook for items. The new beta has added a sidebar functionality that allows you to download plug-ins or create your own to access email, news, photos, weather, stocks, and RSS feeds from that sidebar. While the content areas sound like the MyYahoo portal but leave it to Google to reinvent these functions making them easier for users to handle.
Editorsweblog.org offered a thought provoking post on Google and desktop search. It questions if Google is positioning itself with these products to learn and collect as much information as they can about their users. In doing so they then could offer even more targeted services in other areas. I personally haven't downloaded desktop search for this very reason. I am a little leary of how much information Google is collecting on the various files on my personal computer. Does desktop search send information back to Google based on what is on my PC?
If you are not worried about potentially allowing Google access to your desktop you can learn more about the desktop search check out this Google Blog post. To download the new desktop search you can go here.
