Peripherally related, since it's another "Google newby:"

Google just pushed an unrequested "toolbar update" on me that made most of the icons on the toolbar illegible, turned on the most restrictive "censor," and deleted the image search button.

All's well again, but it took a while to get things readjusted.

I note that they have added a prominent "login" button, on the assumption that you want an "account" where they can keep all of your links, favorites, and history on their servers instead of on your own machine - or so it looks.

John