Some of the features that the new sidebar from Google Desktop has:
- receive emails from your Gmail account
- see news directly on your sidebar (personalized depending on what you visit)
- receive weather information
- see slideshow of photos from your computer and from the internet
- stocks information
- receive RSS and Atom feeds on the sidebar
- write notes in the scratch pad
- list of visited websites
- maps and satellite images
- to do list
- system information (CPU monitor, memory usage...)
I didn't install it yet because I want to give it a little time to see if security issues appear. Last time when they launched it, a security hole was reported soon after.
Plus, I don't like their privacy policy. Here is what I don't like:
Your copy of Google Desktop includes a unique application number. When you install Google Desktop, this number and a message indicating whether the installation succeeded are sent back to Google. Also, when Google Desktop automatically checks to see if a new version is available, the current version number and the unique application number are sent to Google. The unique application number is required for Google Desktop to work and cannot be disabled.
If you choose to enable Advanced Features, Google Desktop may send information about the websites that you visit to provide enhanced Google Desktop functions, such as personalizing news displayed in Sidebar. Enabling Advanced Features also allows Google Desktop to collect a limited amount of non-personal information from your computer and send it to Google. This includes summary information, such as the number of searches you do and the time it takes for you to see your results, and application reports we'll use to make the program better.
Still want to install it? Well grab a copy of it from here: Google Desktop 3. This is free for both personal and business use. And if you want to read that privacy policy better, see here.
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