Go download the new Google Desktop Search and run it in side bar mode.
I’m playing with it now and it’s pretty cool. It offers way too many things I’ll never use or simply don’t need (photo slide show, ‘web clips’ – come on, just call it RSS and be done with it, no weather for non-US cities, ‘what’s hot’) and some nifty features (check the Quick Find feature and the Outlook integration along with a great little scratch pad) in a download that now works with VET anti-virus programs.
MSN Desktop Search is a far more elegant search application and much more focused – it searches your stuff, and searches it well but for sheer geek fun Google delivers.
If you want a sidebar program, check out desktop sidebar. http://www.desktopsidebar.com. It’s got RSS feeds, and weather but it also has lots of plugins people have written. It integrates with outlook so it can display calendar, tasks and email. It’s got a gmail plugin. It’s got media player plugins, messenger plugins… need I go on?