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DESCRIPTION

Google Desktop is a desktop search application that gives you easy access to information on your Mac and from the web. Desktop makes searching your own email, files, music, photos, and more as easy as searching the web with Google.

  • Find and launch applications and emails from your desktop
  • Add Google Gadgets to your Dashboard and iGoogle page
  • Develop and share new Google Gadgets
WHAT'S NEW
Version 1.5.0.1243:

Feature improvements:

  • Improved machine responsiveness while indexing.
  • Reduced initial indexing time on machines with a large number of files by up to 40 percent.
  • Added full support for Mozilla Firefox 3.
  • Added full support for developer builds of Camino.

Known issues:

  • Installation issues
    • During initial indexing, Google Desktop may have a noticeable impact on your computer, especially if your hard drive is highly fragmented or low on disk space. We've designed Google Desktop to be usable - if a bit sluggish - during this period. Once indexing is complete, your computer should return to its normal, speedy self. To expedite indexing, we recommend that you have at least 10 percent disk space remaining and defragment your hard disk before installing.
    • Users who have recently upgraded to 10.4.9 may experience unknown errors installing Google Desktop with Google Updater. To resolve this, try to mount any other DMG file; if that fails, please delete /System/Library/Extensions.kextcache and /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kernelcaches/, then restart your system.
  • Mail and browser issues
    • Indexing Gmail may take a long time because emails are downloaded in batches; each 'batch' is separated by two hours, and there's no progress meter.
    • If you use MailTags, you need to delete the existing MailTags Spotlight importer from /Library/Spotlight or ~/Library/Spotlight and reinstall version 2.0b9 or later. Earlier versions cause crashes during indexing.
    • Inability to search for MailTag tags in emails; the mail contents themselves can be searched normally. We are working with the MailTags author to resolve this.
    • If you have both Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 installed, you may see a message appear in the following instances:
      • The first time you launch Firefox 3 after updating to Desktop 1.5.0.1243, an 'Add-on' dialog will appear and the Desktop Search 1.1 extension will be installed.
      • If you launch Firefox 2 after having launched Firefox 3 and installing the Desktop Search 1.1 extension, you'll see an 'Incompatible Add-ons' dialog. If you see this message, click Don't Check. Despite this message, both Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 should work normally with Google Desktop.
  • Indexing issues
    • Desktop may slow down and appear unresponsive when completing an operation that involves a lot of files, such as installing Logic Studio. It will eventually catch up.
  • Other issues
    • We've received reports of some CVS (Concurrent Versioning System) updates failing with I/O errors. The workaround is to disable indexing during the update and re-enable after the update is complete.
    • If you're working with programs like CVS or SVN (Subversion), you may experience large amounts of file I/O. There's a known issue in Mac OS 10.4+ where large amounts of file I/O may cause a kernel panic. To resolve the issue, we recommend adding any CVS or SVN associated items to your Privacy list.
REQUIREMENTS
Mac OS X 10.4 or later.


SCREENSHOT

Developer:Google
Downloads:18,196
  - Version d/l:1,730
Utilities:Desktop
License:Free
Date:06 Jun 2008
Platform:PPC/Intel
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Google Desktop User Reviews (94 posts)Write A Review
Nov 29 2007
***..

ORION MK. V  Installed and runs JUST FINE on my Intel iMac. Tied in with spotlight's exclude list I can "block" searching of directories or volumes without a problem and if you use the Google Updater it's easy to update and UNINSTALL various Google apps.

That said, Google Desktop is a bit redundant with Spotlight, but after the indexing is done it does run better, so no complaint there -- Spotlight can be quirky about what it chooses to show.

I've never been a fan of Apple's dashboard widgets, so the addition of Google Gadgets is useless to me, but I did try a few and the install and run just fine.  (Version 1.4.0.838)

[ Reply ]
Nov 29 2007

FONNESBECK  While I'd love to have search access to my Gmail while offline, the damn Google Updater and its associated daemon prevent me from installing this software. Imagine if every piece of software you installed ran a monitoring program in the background at all times. Until Google falls in line and distributes Mac software properly, I have removed this and Google Notifier. Mac developers should know better.  (Version 1.4.0.838)

[ 1 Reply - Reply ]
Nov 21 2007
*....

PEDROJ  Extremelly hard to remove once installed. Takes up a lot of computer resources while indexing. Definitely not my choice after new Spotlight in Leopard much improved.  (Version 1.3.1.806)

[ Reply ]
Nov 20 2007

XENOPHILE  Effing Brilliant!

Ever since upgrading to Tiger, I've been desperate for a solution to finding files and stuff on my computer. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack using OS X. Finally, Google comes to the rescue with a simple app I can quickly launch and leave running in the background.

Google Desktop just finds stuff. Period.

Perhaps for a future release, Google could somehow tie this into the file system so it works faster. Or maybe Apple could buy it from Google and incorporate it into OS X somehow, so it worked like a searchlight.

Thanks for filling a gaping hole in Mac OS X, Google!  (Version 1.3.1.806)

[ 6 Replies - Reply ]
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