'google desktop 2.0(beta'

i've found the Google Desktop addons to be worthwhile in my circumstance - the latest, Beta 2, has been to my experience stable, functional, and reliable.

'google desktop 2.0(beta'
You don't feel it gives away a bit too much privacy, timber?

No, not really. Nothing substantive, nothing of a personally identifying nature, no financial or other private info leaves my machines without my direct knowledge and express authorization. I don't mind Google following my cookie crumbs around the web, and with my resident privacy, security, and ad-blocking software, its pretty much a "So what?" as far as I'm concerned.

'google desktop 2.0(beta'
What, actually does Google Desktop do that the everyday, non-business use might find handy?

I could look it up on the Google site, but I'd like a translation of the advertising bumf from someone who actually uses it.

Timber?

I find the indexing/searchability of files on my machines, including visited websites and recent searches, graphics and media files, to be handy - often something I]m Googlesearching for will be, or be related to, something I have cached or saved.

How does it compare to Windows' search feature?

I'm constantly using Windows' to search for files on my hard drive.

Basically, it integrates your Windows Explorer search with Google web search, giving you both results already stored on your machine and from the 'Web.