TOP TOOLS
Google Desktop

Google Desktop lets you search your computer as easily as you search the web and provides you with gadgets to customise your computer desktop like calendar, clock, gmail notifier and so on.  Not to be confused with iGoogle which is your online desktop.

Comments from those who selected Google Desktop as one of their Top 10 Tools in 2008

• "Just as I rely on Google web search almost more than my bookmarks, I rely on their desktop search engine to be able to find files and emails rather than wade through layers of folders. It's not infallible - being particularly frustrating when it displays part of an email, but then Outlook can't open it because it's been moved. But this is more than mitigated by the number of times its found a document that I couldn't see anywhere in my file structure."  Mark Berthelemy

• "great at compiling a list of documents (usually e-mails or student papers) by keyword.

"  Bill Jackson

Comments from those who selected Google Desktop as one of their Top 10 Tools in 2007

• "I love it. It provides a large number of gadgets, not always useful but still. I use the Web Clips gadget to track my favorite RSS feeds almost in real time"  Guy Boulet

• "because searching the desktop is the way forward"  David Flanders

• "Because sometimes I forget which of the 10 million files I’ve saved over the years is the one with the words “lost my file” in it."  Phil Green

• "I do not exploit it as much as I could, and I've yet to work out if my privacy concerns are real or notional." Seb Schmoller

• "I use it all the time"  Karl Kapp

• "both for myself and with versions for various team projects." Michele Martin

• " If it's not in my calendar, I'll forget about it. Google Calendar allows me to keep my life in order - I make a note in my calendar, then I can think about more pressing matters. When the time comes - be it a project I want to work on or a scheduled event, Google Calendar emails me the scoop. I started using Yahoo Calendar in 1998 and switched to Google Calendar shortly after it was launched in 2006 - and imported all my archives, of course."  Gabe Anderson