Google Desktop

Google Blog says:

"Google Desktop Search will retrieve your email in Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express; files in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and text; your website history in Internet Explorer; and your instant message chats in AOL Instant Messenger. In other words, if you've seen it on your computer screen, Google Desktop Search can likely help you find it. Simply put, it's like a photographic memory for your computer."

Google launched a program today which searches your hard drive in the same manner as it searches the Internet. After downloading it, I tried a search and it literally came back in less than a second. This is revolutionary. For any of you who use Windows, you know that searches can take minutes and can get quite frustrating. I was so amazed by the efficiency and the speed that I'm passing the information on to you bloggees out there. And not only are the searches fast, but when you click on a fil it really seems to open faster. I might just be crazy though.

Either way, I'm quite impressed by this interface. Basically, as John Battelle's Searchblog suggests, it "makes your browser seem smarter." And all of the functions of Google search are available--including the ability to search cached files. This makes for locating a certain sentence, say, in some file you can't possibly remember the name of. Instead of having to find the file first (say this is a Word file) and having to then click edit > find, you can just search for keywords in the sentence. This is at the bottom of my Google Desktop: "©2004 Google - Searching 4,919 items." I find that so adorable.

Download it now!
Kottke.org talks about Google Desktop.
So does the Unofficial Google Fan Club.
And the O'Reilly Network.
And a million others...