Peter Gasston wonders:

Booted up my PC this morning to find this little Google Desktop Search widget floating on my screen…

I think this means that Google accessed the internet to get new instructions or to download upgraded software; I think that to have done so without my express permission is pretty intrusive.

I have to say I found Google Desktop Search pretty creepy right from the start. I downloaded it. Then when I saw what sorts of crazy stuff it was finding I immediately uninstalled it. It might be impressively powerful, but because of this it renders such things as, say, password-protected Word documents, absolutely useless.