5 Reasons to Install Google Desktop Today

 By 
Jennifer Van Grove
 on 
5 Reasons to Install Google Desktop Today
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1. Google Docs Drag-and-Drop

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Yesterday, Google released the Google Docs Gadget, available for Linux and Windows versions of Google Desktop (no Mac support, sorry!), that enables users to open their Google documents right from the desktop. As a bonus, users can drag-and-drop their documents right into the gadget for immediate uploading to Google Docs.

2. File Versioning

Google Desktop creates cached copies of your files on the fly, making it an easy way to find a previous or accidentally deleted version of your document.

3. Advanced Search Options

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TweakGDS, a Google Desktop Windows plug-in, lets users maximize and customize their advanced search settings for Google Desktop. This nifty addition to the already powerful innate search functionality gives you the ability to add mapped network drives and USB devices to Google Desktop Search indexes.

4. Gadgets!

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There are some super-useful gadgets available for use with Google Desktop. Among our favorites: the eBay Deal Finder, Gmail gadget, or the ability to add and review your coComment comments. Of course there's a myriad of other useful and entertaining gadgets available, so we'd love to hear which gadgets you think are great in the comments.

5. Take Your Desktop to Your TV

Windows users can install the Google Media Server gadget to harness the power of Google Desktop technology on any UPnP-enabled device like the PlayStation3. Once installed, you can view your PC's videos, music and photos on your TV, as well as Picasa Web Albums and YouTube videos. A word of warning, however: setup is not always smooth.

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