Google Desktop
I've gone full circle. I uninstalled Google Desktop Search back in August 2006 and installed the Windows version.
Yesterday, I reversed that decision. I thought that GDS' problem with archived email was bad; what a joke that was. WDS was far, far worse. By the end it couldn't even find files in folders that matched a filespec - you know, like DOS could 20 years ago.
So, I installed GDS again - now out of beta I think? - and got some "prettiness" too. It caught me in the right mood, so I installed the sidebar too (shown to the right). Not a fan of gadgets normally, but I found some neat ones that save me some real time during the day.
For example, the volume gadget allows me to mute and change volume without clicking on the volume icon and waiting a few seconds for it to popup. Sounds silly? I HATE waiting.
iTunes? Ditto. Why wait for it to popup so I can skip/pause or wait for the tooltop to see whats playing? gdTunes rocks.
An eBay watcher to show my stuff. Very cool.
The weather. Sure, I can look out the window, but temps are nice and forecasts are a click away.
My favorite though are the clocks. How nice are they? I have times shown in Seattle (MSFT), Dallas (Telligent) and Brisbane (parents) so I don't have to think timezones any more.
Dont' forget the perfect geek toy - a plant that I can't kill. I have a kind of bush thing in a pot in the office that (I only realized the other day when I had visitors) I haven't watered for over a year. I dont' know why it is still alive. Humidity?
lol. I didn't even mention that I can search from the sidebar.
It takes some screen real-estate, sure. But I have 3 screens so I treated myself - and actually programs act like my middle screen got a little smaller so it works really well.