[HingVista]

Google Desktop 5.8 for Windows release is based entirely on performance.
* Memory usage during startup has been cut by 50%.
* Shutdown now happens five times faster.
[release notes]

Google Desktop makes searching your computer as easy as searching the web with Google. It's provides full search over your email, files, music, photos, chats, Gmail, web pages that you've viewed, and more.

It also helps you gather new information from the web and stay organized with gadgets and sidebar. Google Gadgets can be placed anywhere on your desktop to show you new email, weather, photos, personalized news, and more. Sidebar is a vertical bar on your desktop that helps you keep your gadgets organized.

Desktop.Google.com

[pm_41]

I heard before that this may be malware...

[RickSOLET]

^ LOL, how? This is just a desktop search and widgets program!

[Ultimate John]

In this version Google Desktop's main feature, "indexing" is no longer enabled by default.
In Windows Vista, Google uses the index created by Microsoft's desktop search service. If you want to enable Google Desktop's index, you need to select "Enable Enhanced Content Indexing" in the options page.

[pm_41]

Is this really any better than the default Vista indexing and the default Vista Sidebar?

[TheGreenMan]

^ It uses Vista's own index but the sidebar and gadgets are really better because of less memory usage.

[Merforga]

I may give it a try...

[M.Sudoku]

Quote

In Windows Vista, Google uses the index created by Microsoft's desktop search service.

This is great. People can now use it just for the widgets.

[pm_41]

Quote

In Windows Vista, Google uses the index created by Microsoft's desktop search service.

Is it possible to switch to a Google index? And do the widgets really use less RAM to run then Vista's Sidebar? (3 processes seems a bit too much...)