I find the sidebar annoying, but perhaps more so because we have used google without it for so long. I tend to agree with techcrunch that there is redundancy in the side and top bar. New logo is good, search box is ok...but this modern style of it and the buttons seems out of place and more distracting then anything.

The search features on the side are nice...but I used them so rarely in the past and don't see myself using them any more now. It seems like google wants me to spend more time searching then clicking links, when in reality I usually use google as a quick 10 second shortcut to finding info. The last time I clicked "next" on a search was........a long time ago.

I use the time-based filtering all the time now. I didn't really expect to when I first started in the beta. It's incredibly helpful when searching on topics that undergo wholesale changes often (e.g. the vast majority of technology). Without using the filtering I get frustrated with Google results with high PR that end up being horribly outdated.

I've been using it for the opposite reason: I'll see something in a news story and want to search on it for some background, and all I get are 500 copies of the same news story or commentary on it. Being able to exclude anything from the past week or so makes it easier to filter all those out. It is slightly more awkward to use it that way UI-wise, though: there are quick links to press for "last X hours/days/etc.", but no quick way to get "older than X" without typing stuff into the "custom range" thing.

I also use the time based filtering a lot.

For example, if I want to see a recent Obama speech I missed. Its nearly impossible to find the one you want without time-based filtering.

Could you give an example of how you're using it please?

Every web browser now has a search box as an extension of, or complement to, the address bar. I think, more and more, people are only going "to Google" when they want something more complicated than a click and a jump.