New on your Desktop

Posted by Posted by Kan Liu, Product Manager, Google Desktop

In v.1 of Google Desktop, we focused on helping you quickly find existing information on your own computer. In v. 2, it became easier to organize and find new personalized information from all over the web via the Sidebar. Now there's v.3, in which you can also search across multiple computers to find your information. You don't have to worry about where it lives; it's available anywhere you are. If you've ever created a document but forgot whether it's on your laptop or desktop, then you can appreciate why we built this feature.

And if you find something interesting in the Sidebar (an interesting newsbit, weekend weather, a hot stock), now you can right-click on the item and send it directly to your friend's Sidebar. Or hey, just play Tic-Tac-Toe with your pal (another Sidebar newbie). And speaking of pals, we're keen to see what other collaborative panels the developers among us can come up with (I'd love to see a chess game!). Anyone who can write a web page can write a panel, so head to the developer site to try your hand.

The only catch with having desktop tools is that they take up valuable screen real estate. Now you can undock Sidebar panels and keep them floating wherever. Bring panels forward by hitting "Shift" twice, clicking the "Panels" button, or keep them always visible by selecting "Stay on top."

We hope you enjoy all the new features and find them truly useful. Please contribute your ideas via the Google Group for Desktop.