You can often tell by looking at this preview if the Web page is worth visiting without having to actually go there. Another great feature is the ability to see Web pages from sites that are down or no longer exist. Google saves copies of nearly all the Web pages it finds. The flip side of the cache feature is you may be viewing an outdated page. Finally, Google is fast.
Search results appear on the screen almost right away.
The company's goal is to return all searches within one-half second, Reese said. Google runs on more than 6,000 computers, according to Reese. Google hasn't publicized this yet, but it has released a test version of a free computer program that incorporates a small search window in your Web browser. It lets you use the service from your browser, without having to visit Google first. The bad news is it only works with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, version 5.0 and higher.