And "a real step forward" over Yahoo!'s too...

Analyst group Gartner has welcomed the second version of Google's desktop search application, saying it is an improvement on competitive offerings from Apple and Yahoo!.

This is a significant endorsement for Google, as Gartner had criticised the first version of the desktop search tool for creating worrying security issues for IT managers and chief information officers.

The beta version of Google Desktop Version 2, which was launched on Monday, features a new "sidebar" which sits on screen displaying the user's latest emails, information from RSS feeds, photos, weather and stock reports as well as faster and more tailored access to Google search facilities.

Allen Weiner, Gartner's search engine analyst, said Google Desktop was "interesting in the context of the web-browser market which has been relying on the same technology for 10 years". Google Desktop was "a real advance", said Weiner and "a step forward" over other technologies like Apple's Widgets and Yahoo!'s Konfabulator.

Read more: silicon.com