Google is always tweaking the design of its products even, or especially, that of its search engine. The site has evolved in time but for the most part the changes have been subdued and discrete. Not anymore though, Google is planning a major revamp of its search engine, by Google standards anyway, promising to be the biggest single redesign to date. The company is already testing the design with a number of users, but the rest of us will have to wait until next year to get to see it in action. However, if you just can't wait that long, there's a little trick you can use to get into the trial.

The trick involves modifying the cookies Google stores on your computer to keep various settings and data. This sounds more complicated than it really is, all you need to do is copy and paste the code below into your browser's address bar. You need to sign out of your Google account either before or after pasting the code and then you should see the brand-new design regardless of whether you're signed in or not.

After this, the new design is all yours in all its Technicolor glory. It's still the same minimalist Google design that we all know and love, but it's gotten a bit livelier. A lot livelier actually, thanks to the small icons adorning the categories in the now-permanent sidebar, but especially to the bright, new blue, which is everywhere from the links to the logo.

There's a more detailed account of the features and changes in the new design over here. Moreover, if you want to check out the “disappearing” homepage Google has also been testing for a while, you can read about it here. And, finally, if you don't want to mess with your browser's cookies you can check out some screenshots below.

Here's the code you need to copy and then paste in the address bar:

javascript:void(document.cookie="PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com");