Google Desktop is Now Wicked Cool

When Google Desktop first came out, it was moderately cool. You could search Outlook Mail, your files, Internet Explorer web history, and AOL IM chat history. I use Windows at work, so I tested it out. It worked from what I could tell, but I use Thunderbird for mail, Firefox for web, and Gaim for AIM chat. I totally forgot about Google Desktop.

Then Google Desktop came out of beta. Not only did they add Firefox and Thunderbird support, they supplied a plugin interface. This is huge. That enables developers to add Google searching to any product. For example, someone could write a plugin to search Gaim logs. It’s tempting to get a free t-shirt, but as I don’t have a Windows box at home, I doubt I will even attempt making a plugin.

That’s just a small case. Imagine the possibilities! Search your iTunes library. Search Opera’s web history. If there was a Windows equivalent of Delicious Library, you could search that. They’ve even made it easier to access it by allowing you to embed it in your taskbar or make it a floating window. Very cool. Very extensible. These plugins take a mediocre product and make it wicked cool.