I’m seeing tons of news coverage over Google Sidebar which is part of Google Desktop 2 that was released Monday. For those who have never used a sidebar, it can take a bit to get used to losing a percentage of vertical screen space. I’ve been using a program called Desktop Sidebar (DS) regularly for quite some time and Google Sidebar is similar enough to draw some comparisons, thus this blog entry.

Check out the screenshot above which shows a side-by-side comparison between the two tools. I’ll give one point for the tool I think is better based on features, functionality, UI and programability. Both can check weather and stocks.

Skinnable - Google Sidebar can only be skinned programatically from what I’ve seen anyway, while Desktop Sidebar has 200+ skins available and makes it fairly easy to skin. I know that some people could care less about the look and feel of programs running on their desktop, but for those that do, this is a nice benefit of Desktop Sidebar. (DS + 1)

Plugins - Both have plugin capability, whereas Google’s Sidebar only has a handful of sidebar-specific plugins, Desktop Sidebar has dozens to choose from. There are more plugins for Google Desktop search but that’s covered under the search next. Because the extensibility and program flexibility for users on initial installation is so important, this warrants two points instead of one. (DS + 2)

Search - Predictably, Google Desktop is far superior here in that they have dozens of plugins to search specific programs and filter and analyze files, plus a constantly indexing search engine on your desktop. Desktop Sidebar will let you search several online search engines, plus built-in calculator and command line launcher, and has a Google Desktop DS search plugin, but it’s still no comparison. (Google Sidebar + 1)

Photos - Google Sidebar calls theirs “Photos” and DS calls it “Slideshow” (screenshot) but they essentially function the same: show pictures from the web or local hard drive. Google adds a neat feature that is checked by default: “Auto Add Photos from the Web” under the “Photos Online” tab. This will gather photos as you surf around automatically to display in the slideshow, which can provide an interesting dynamic element to your slideshow. Edge: Google Sidebar. (Google Sidebar+ 1)

Weather & Email - Both programs provide an email checker and weather forecast panel by default. Both DS and Google Sidebar show the weather graphically and textually. Gmail is more integrated in the Google Sidebar than Desktop Sidebar, but if you don’t use Gmail, this won’t be that big of a deal, plus there are DS plugins for Gmail. Outlook users will appreciate Desktop Sidebar having a convenient inbox plugin which shows the contents of the Outlook inbox including a rules engine, a basic junk filter and alert for new messages. If you use Outlook, then DS functionality here out of the box is better but if you use Gmail than Google Sidebar has the edge. I’ll call this one a draw. (draw).

Notes vs. Scratch Pad - A Scratch Pad that automatically saves every letter typed is provided default with Google Sidebar whereas DS comes with a notes panel that displays notes made in Outlook. Outlook users can add or remove notes into Outlook directly from the panel. DS has a rather comprehensive Notes Editor plugin which isn’t as flashy as Scratch Pad, but does the job. Neither program is ink-enabled for Tablet PC users (hint to plugin developers) which would be quite handy. This is another tough one to call because those who use Outlook will much appreciate the DS default functionality, but then there are Outlook haters out there. Will give this one to Google since it appeals by default to more users. (Google Sidebar +1).

RSS / News - Google is clearly more focused on this one than DS, by providing three different default panels containing news: News, which is personalized by Google based on the actual news articles users are reading, Web Clips which contains user-customizable RSS / Atom feeds from the web and can also be automatically populated (similar to the photos) based on sites users visit, and finally a What’s Hot section which allows users to “.. learn about the current trends and what’s hot on the web.” Neither GS or DS uses the term “RSS/Atom” for the main title. Google have chosen to call RSS / Atom feeds “Web Clips.” Desktop Sidebar refers to the panel as simply “Newsroom.” One feature sorely missing from Google Sidebar is the ability to import or export OPML of all RSS/Atom feeds subscribed to. With DS, you can resort, import and export OPML easily. This makes it a more handy RSS reader for those reading a larger number of RSS feeds, however from an easy to subscribe to pretty much any blog or page you read, Google is better. Until/if/when Google adds OPML, it’s the underdog here for power users, but the average or new user coming into RSS is going to find Google Sidebar easier to deal with and less technically challenging. Another thing I like about Google Sidebar is it seems more focused on providing informaiton of interest in a more timely basis than DS which just cycles through the RSS / Atom sources. Lastly, I didn’t check any podcast feeds to see how Google Sidebar handles those, but DS will prompt for download on enclosures so it’s podcast friendly. (Google Sidebar +1).

Add/Edit/Remove Panels Functionality - With Google Sidebar you need to click the the down arrow next to the minimize button in the right corner and a context menu will popup allowing a number of choices including “add/remove panels.” For editing, right click on the panel heading and choose “options.” In Desktop Sidebar you right click on the green/white Sidebar name at the top and choose “Add panel.” In DS, you can remove any other panel in DS by right clicking on any menu head. You can edit the panel’s functionality in DS by choosing “Panel Properties” from any menu head. Google does have a neat detail view that by clicking on the heading of say the Web Clips section, a full size vertical view pops out alongside the sidebar. By hovering over any entry in the “Newsroom” in DS a larger version popup box of the story will appear automatically. I’ve found that popout in DS a bit annoying when you accidentally scroll over, so I like Google’s approach better where you actually have to click to make the entry pop out. (Google Sidebar +1).

Other default panels - Desktop Sidebar has a handy CPU panel which shows overall and specific program memory consumption, disk swap space and usage. Google doesn’t have this plugin in by default unfortunately, but you can use their System Monitor plugin to add similar functionality. Why they didn’t put this one in by default, I’m not sure, but my guess would be that they wanted to add to the plug-in count so the cupboards weren’t too bare on launch. Google Sidebar does have one useful default panel called “Quick View” which will help you navigate to “frequently used items.” I wish Desktop Sidebar has this one by default. Didn’t check the plugins to see if someone had created something similar. Desktop Sidebar also shows a clock with date by default, but this is somewhat redundant by the informaiton in the Windows system tray. Google has a weird time warmp clock plugin (not default), that warps in shape based on the time for those who really want to know the time more than once on screen. Again, Outlook users will find DS to provide more default useful options than Google Sidebar, but since this article is being aimed at the most users and not everybody uses Outlook (that’s a whole article in itself), Google Sidebar gets the nod. (Google Sidebar +1).

Summary
Score - Google Desktop Sidebar: 6, Desktop Sidebar: 3

Google’s new sidebar comes out on top, but with a lot of caveats. For one, Outlook users and power RSS/Atom users will most likely prefer Desktop Sidebar. Those who are already using a competing desktop search or don’t want to use a third party desktop search won’t care about this missing functionality in DS. Those who don’t like giving up 7-13% of vertical screen space aren’t going to like and/or use either program. I use two monitors, so it’s only a big deal when a webpage doesn’t fit along with the sidebar inside the 1024×768 resoultion. Running both Google Sidebar and Desktop Sidebar and shown in the screenshot above is a loss of too much screen space (25% or so, it seems).

The auto adding of RSS / Atom and pictures aside, Google hasn’t really done anything revolutionary with Google Sidebar. These new auto-add sources (RSS / Atom, pictures) features are interesting but I’m not sure how many non-sidebar users will give up the screen space. And for those who are already using Desktop Sidebar, it’s doubtful they will switch.

This effort seems to me Google’s step to enter the Konfabulator or Mac Dashboard widget arena. Over time they shouldn’t have any trouble competing with Desktop Sidebar because it’s less known, but for those who run Konfabulator, why will they want to run a sidebar?

I’m still using Desktop Sidebar as my primary sidebar reader until Google adds OPML import/export for RSS / Atom feeds. That feature will be enough for me to convert, as that’s the primary reason I have the sidebar on my desktop: so I can use it to keep up with the news I’m interested while working. As always, reader mileage my vary and I’m curious what readers have used sidebars before and their comments.

tags: Google, Google Sidebar, sidebar

Update: Made a mistake in the scoring, as search was supposed to go to Google Sidebar. This make it Google Sidebar 6, Desktop Sidebar 3.

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