Google Tuesday launched the public version of Quick Search Box, an integrated desktop search tool for Mac users. Earlier this year, the search giant had opened up a preview version of QSB to developers, but warned the program was a work in progress. Now, however, QSB is ready for prime time -- according to Google, anyway.

QSB vs. Google Desktop

Unlike Google Desktop, QSB uses your Mac's Spotlight index instead of Google's own search capabilities to call up files and programs. This makes for a lighter search program, but one that doesn't have to index your entire computer before you can use it. Google says QSB includes a wide variety of search results including applications, files, music, Web search, navigational suggestions, browser history, and contacts. QSB will also let you carry out actions based on your search results, such as e-mailing files, sending contacts an instant message, and others. Over time, QSB will learn from your search habits and organize your search results based on your selections, according to Google. QSB is also an open platform, so third-party developers can create plug-ins to take advanatge of the search box functionality. A Twitter plug-in, for example, lets you send tweets right from QSB. However, QSB is not a Twitter client, so you will not be able to follow other people's tweets. So how well does QSB do its job? Let's take a look. (Click on the thumbnail images for a clearer look at the full screen.)

Calling it upOnce QSB is installed, Google says you can launch QSB by double tapping the "Command" key or by pressing "control + spacebar." In my tests, I couldn't do this and had to search for QSB using Spotlight and launch it from there. Once QSB was launched, however, the keyboard shortcuts worked just fine to switch to QSB from another program. Once QSB is open, you are presented with a floating Google search box that can be moved anywhere on your desktop. Clicking on the down arrow on the far-right side shows you the variety of specific searches you can do, including Gmail, Wikipedia, YouTube, and other Google search categories.

Files Since QSB is geared toward integrating your desktop and Web searches, I tested this by searching for "PC World." As you can see from the photo, QSB called up the folder where I keep my PC World posts as well as a variety of related results including a Web search, PC World Podcast MP3s, and so on. When I select the PC World folder and press the tab or right arrow button, QSB shows me the folder's contents, displaying the first five documents in the folder with the option to look through for more. After selecting a file, and again hitting tab or the right arrow, I was able to see the variety of actions I could do with that file. Options include looking up basic file information, as well as deleting and opening the file.

Source: Computerworld.com