Search engine giant Google has started distributing the beta version of its new Toolbar through its website besides including it in a special Google pack of software.
The new Toolbar's features include customizable buttons which allow a user to search any website even if he/she does not know its URL. The Toolbar offers a gallery of about 60 buttons to choose from in this version but as it allows you to create your own buttons, blog administrators, web designers, developers and content creators could personalize it by creating hundreds of buttons.
Just right clicking on a search box on any website will create a custom button. The new XML application-programming interface allows one to create more advanced buttons.
The Toolbar can update with new feeds and features site-specific search and Web-based bookmarks with which users can store their favorite websites.
It includes an enhanced search box and allows users to send Web pages either via email, blog or text messaging. A user can bookmark a website, saving it onto his / her Google account and access it later from any other computer. It even spellchecks - i.e. it offers corrected spellings to facilitate searches.
The product appears to be an effort to match Yahoo's and Microsoft's Toolbar offerings. Yahoo's Toolbar has many similar features except one that Google doesn't offer: anti-spyware. Microsoft's product has the same set of features.
Along with this version, Google released an updated enterprise edition which allows company administrators to operate the software from a single point. This edition also enables the user organization to custom create buttons.
The new Google Toolbar is also being shipped with Hewlett Packard's computers and Sun Microsystem's software.
The version runs on Windows XP and is compatible with Internet Explorer currently. The company plans to release a version for Firefox browser very soon.
I've always liked the Firefox version of the Google Toolbar, as the IE one is more cluttered - but since Firefox includes most of the features anyway, you don't see it in the Toolbar
I like google's new portal. Anyone use it? it's great.. i get to see what movies are playing this week, if i have any gmail, my weather... it's freaking awesome!
