How many of you actually visit Google‘s homepage to meet your searching needs? I used to, probably around 5 years ago :-). Since then, I have been a very faithful Firefox user and the nifty little search box at the top right corner has been my gateway to the world wide web. Then a few months back, AwesomeBar made its way into our lives and voila, Ctrl+L and Ctrl+K became the most oft used shortcut of my life.
Anyway, I just happened to visit Google, this afternoon, and noticed a nice little cosmetic addition there. Curious? Here’s a screenshot for you, first.
Can you notice the little non-greyed out rectangle, at the top right? Yes, they have come up with a new drop down menu where they have integrated the “Advanced Search Setting” and “Account Settings” links in the very same box. However, this drop down is available only while you are logged in. Kinda makes sense since Google never had the “Account Settings” link when you aren’t logged in.
While I am not sure when this change got incorporated, Darrin Ward’s blog post suggests that it could be August 27, ’09.
While this is nothing more than a cosmetic change, but as characteristic with Google, any change they ever make, they always make you feel the previous one was actually out of place. This is what I love about Google. Doesn’t matter how insignificant a change might be, they would always implement it if they feel it’d make your life a wee bit easier.
