Google Desktop

Google’s search tool can find files, music, photos, emails, chats and items in your web history. Press Ctrl twice to open the Quick Search box, enter some keywords and it will display its findings as you type. If it locates the item you want, you can open it directly or view all the results in a browser window. The program creates snapshots (cached copies) of files, which you can access even after the originals have been deleted. Indexing is relatively fast and takes place whenever your computer has been idle for longer than 30 seconds.

Unlike other Desktop search tools, this isn’t all that the program offers. Most notably, it can display gadgets either on your Desktop or in a nifty sidebar. Finding and adding new ones is easy and you can drag, drop and resize them to suit your tastes. The program also offers some protection against phishing sites.

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