Google Toolbar 4 Beta Released
Posted by Jeff Chenkus on January 30, 2006
Filed Under Misc. Gadgets | Stumble This
Google released a beta version of their Toolbar this morning. On installing it, the first thing you notice is that by default the “send us usage statistics” option is disabled. Possibly a reaction to the government trying to get data from them? There is another option about using page rank, the description of what it is and isn’t being very straightforward. Installation is a snap, just be sure to close out any work you may have on other browser windows since by default the installation will close all IE windows to avoid conflicts.
After installing, the toolbar window looks very similar to what you are used to. The first thing you will notice on typing in search terms is that it will suggest search terms and refine them as you type. I see this as a nice little feature, but I can see where some might just find it a nuisance.
The next feature you can experiment with are the buttons you can add to the toolbar. Customizable, they act primarily just like your favorites list but using graphic buttons instead of descriptions. Again, nice feature and something I would use. Stays out of the way and graphical is always easier to work with. Adds them to the drop down menu available in the search window as well.
The toolbar also has a drop down menu to choose a number of options. One of the more intriguing ones is that you can set up a bookmark to use as a romaing Google user, so you can access them from whatever computer you are using. This does require you to have a Google account set up. There is an AutoLink feature that will allow you to hit the AutoLink button when you see things like an address or delivery tracking number and it will provide a link to a map of that location. There is also an AutoFill section where you can input information such as a mailing address, shipping addres and credit card information to allow web forms to be filled in automatically. It can highlight the areas it recognizes to let you know what it will be able to fill out.
The final new feature I tried out was that you can send the current page you are viewing to other users using Gmail, SMS text messaging or via a blog. I tried the mail feature, and it sent an e-mail with most of the data there, though some as attachments. Individual mail settings can affect this. It also included a link at the top of the page to take you straight to the page.
There are two other new features. One is a translator that will convert English language pages to other languages. The other is a spell check feature for web forms. I am sure both will have plenty of users that find them nice additions.
For anyone that has used and enjoyed the Google Toolbar, this will be an application you should embrace. There are a lot more features available than in the past, and if there are any features you don’t like or trust, you can just turn them off. All of the features that I have used are still there, and some even updated. While you may find occasional bugs, it is a beta version, I still plan to continue using it. I have seen no issues and like the new features.
Posted by Jeff
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