Chris Sherman reports at SearchDay that Google has just added several new features to its Desktop project, three of which Google considers "major" enhancements while others bolster the utility of the program.

In highlighting the three major enhancements, Chris reports:

"The first new feature allows you to drag panels out of the sidebar and place them anywhere you want on the desktop. You can also now bring panels to the foreground or push them to the background with a single click.

Google has also added sharing features, allowing you to send content from your sidebar to others. You can do this via chat or email, or through a new feature that actually allows you to send your sidebar content directly to the sidebar of other users, by dragging the content into your Google Talk buddy list.

Finally you can use the Google Desktop to search across multiple computers. This means that you can use your laptop to search for content on your desktop or any other computer that you choose."

Some of the other new features include password protection, indexing of zip files, the ability to disable indexing and the ability to perform advanced search queries using the full range of advanced search commands. There are now dozens new plug-ins including to-do lists, an iTunes controller, video indexers and clocks.

I have yet to try this myself and probably won't for awhile. Heck, I'm still trying to fully convert from Internet Explorer to Firefox. But for those who like to try new things as well as alternatives to Microsoft products, it appears that Google Desktop just keeps getting better and better.