Google’s Desktop Search version 3.0 has recently gone out of beta phase, and is now under official release. One notable improvement is the Quick Search box, which lets you access a popup search box by pressing the CTRL key twice.

Of course, we’re aware that version 3.0 has the cross-computer searching, which lets you search across all computers you have Google Desktop installed on and with your Google account username and password saved. Privacy issues aside, we think this is an interesting concept, making it easier to search for information in a cluttered world.

In case you’re using Google Desktop Search, here are some handy advanced commands you may wish to keep in mind, to help you customize your search. Most are similar to the Google web search operators, so they might already familiar. Some are specific to Desktop Search, though.

• Phrase search – enclose your phrase in quotation marks, and Desktop Search will only return results with that exact, complete, phrase.
• “-” search – pre-pend a word with the minus sign and Desktop Search will not display items with that particular word.
• Site search – use the operator site:[URL] to limit your search to within the particular website defined by the URL.
• Filetype search – this lets you limit your search according to file type. You can define filetype:word or filetype:doc and Desktop Search will display items created using the defined application or containing the extension.
• “Under” search – You can define the folder/s under which the files should be searched. If you search for an item under:c:\Program Files, then Desktop Search will only display results under the c:\Program Files folder.
• “Machine” search – This lets you search only on the specific computers you indicate. Use the computer name defined in the Google Desktop Search settings.
• Advanced email search – You can use the operators subject:, to:, from:, cc:, and bcc: to search your Gmail messages and within Outlook.

Of course, all these features are also accessible through the Advanced search form under the Google Desktop pages. But a little advanced knowledge is helpful, especially at times you’re in a hurry and would rather key in a few commands than open up a browser window with the advanced features laid out in a GUI.

By the way, Desktop search can look for information within these file types:

• Email (including Gmail and local POP3 clients)
• Chats (from Instant Messengers)
• Web history
• Microsoft Word documents
• Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
• Microsoft PowerPoint presentations
• PDF files
• Media files
• Contacts
• Calendar appointments
• Tasks
• Notes
• Journal
• Zip files
• Text and other files
• Password protected Microsoft Office documents
• Secure web pages