Folks, meet my new favorite feed reader. :)

Back when Google launched the first version of Reader about a year ago, I was pretty disappointed. The old UI, while different and perhaps even innovative in some sense, was almost unusable for me. Many others apparently felt the same way. So the Reader team took a step back and redesigned the interface to make it a little more like other web-based aggregators, but with some interesting features of its own.

I started playing with this new version of Reader a few weeks ago on the corporate network while I was interning at Google, and I loved it instantly. I was eagerly waiting for the public release so that I could switch over, and of course, blog about it.

So what are some of the things that I really like about the new version? Firstly, it's fast. This is extremely important to me. If I can't skim through all my feeds quickly, the aggregator fails the test right away. Almost every other aggregator I've tried that uses AJAX has failed for exactly this reason. Google Reader uses a neat trick to overcome lag - if a feed has more than 20 new items, only the first 20 get loaded initially, and as you scroll down the list, the next 20 items get loaded asynchronously. There's no pagination, so it's fluid and continuous, but it's still zippy and responsive. Posts also get marked as read as you scroll past them. Nice.

Secondly, the UI is clean, appealing, and makes good use of space. Besides the traditional "Expanded" view, which shows the full contents of all the items in the feed, there's also a "List" view that's very Gmail-like. It simply shows you the post title with a one-line summary, and each post expands out when you click on it.

Saving items for later is also quick and easy, just like it should be - you "Star" items, just like you do in Gmail again. NewsGator Online is also pretty good at this, whereas adding a post to the Clippings section in Bloglines still needs too many clicks. You can also tag posts/feeds, which is something NewsGator Online and Bloglines don't support yet.

Oh, and of finally, the devs have a sense of humor. That's always a plus in my books. ;)

Go try it out. I think you'll like it too. The response on the web has generally been very positive this time around.

One of the odd things that I noticed back when I installed the Vista RC 1 build was the absence of the Windows Mobile Device Center (WMDC), Vista's new replacement for ActiveSync.

Rob Bushway at GottaBeMobile.com has posted a registry hack that allows you to get WMDC from Windows Update, so that you can sync your Windows Mobile device with your Vista machine again.

So many apps today use tabs to group similar windows and prevent desktop clutter. Console is an add-on for Windows that allows you to group multiple command prompt windows into a single tabbed window. Other nice features include text editor-like selection, lots of customizability, and alpha transparency for that little bit of eye-candy.

Since Console is basically a front-end for any shell, you can even use it with Cygwin or PowerShell, besides the basic Windows "cmd" shell.

Here's a screenshot of Console 2.0 Beta Build 122 running on my Tablet PC. Click for a larger version:

I love the find-as-you-type, inline search feature that's been in Firefox for a while now. It's one of those features that I miss when I'm using IE.

Core Services, a French software and services company, has the answer. Inline Search is a free add-on that enables this feature in IE (versions 5.5 and above). I tried it out with the latest IE 7 RC 1 build on XP, and it works well.

So whether you're a die-hard IE fan, or a Firefox user who occasionally fires up IE for that odd page that refuses to play nice with anything else, I suggest you download and install this. I doubt you'll ever want to go back to that old, clunky search window. :)

I have about a week and a half before I head back to uni and begin my final year. I'm flying to New York tomorrow evening to visit my brother and spend a week there. So even though Google isn't keeping me busy (and entertained) anymore, blogging might just continue to remain a little slow (as some of you have pointed out). Hopefully I'll be able to resume the regular schedule once the quarter begins.

Friday was the last day of my internship at Google. I had a farewell lunch at Cafe 150 that morning with my team, wrapped up all the last bits of work in the afternoon, and went for my exit meeting in the evening, where I received my last paycheck and a nice sweatshirt as a parting gift.

As I was traveling back to LA this morning, I just recalled what an awesome experience it was during the last three months. The project that I got a chance to work on was interesting and significant to the company, the people were great, and the Googleplex has one of the coolest work environments I've seen in the industry. Having the Google infrastructure at your disposal is also exciting stuff, because you get a chance to learn so much, and use tools that you would never have heard of as an outsider.

I remember having internship offers from a couple of other companies last Spring, and while I was in the process of making a decision, one of the questions running through my mind was - what really is it that makes Google so appealing to people in this industry? I was curious to find out. Now I know. It's all those little things combined. I had heard and read lots of good things, but experiencing it for yourself is something else. If I had to do this over again, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'm going to miss the place...

Windows Vista RC 1 is now available to the general public. If you signed up for the Beta 2 preview in June and received a product key, you can use the same one to install this build. If you don't have a key yet, you'll have to wait for a few days before they start issuing new ones.

Update: New keys are being issued. Check out the Customer Preview Program page.

I got a chance to visit the Mozilla office here in Mountain View for lunch yesterday. Their building is actually a five minute walk from where I work. A number of other folks from Google, Yahoo, and other companies were there as well.

We started off with lunch, of course, followed by a short presentation by Mike Schroepfer, a raffle for Firefox swag, and finally a tour of the office with Asa Dotzler. It's a little office with two floors and just about 60 people. There was lots of activity, especially since everyone was busy getting ready to release Firefox 2.0 Beta 2 to the web that day.

A visit to any tech company is incomplete without swag, and I'm happy to report that I didn't walk out empty-handed - I now have a blue Firefox 1.0 T-shirt, and a variety of Mozilla, Firefox, and Thunderbird stickers. :)