Google Desktop for the Mac

by Zef Hemel

Google released Google Desktop for the Mac, which is in my opinion Google’s least interesting product ever. On Windows there was a point to Google Desktop: Windows until a few months later did not have a proper desktop search product. But on the Mac we’ve had desktop search that works really well for a while now, so what’s the point of Google Desktop on the Mac? I haven’t a clue. Searching Gmail from your Desktop really isn’t enough of a feature to me. I’d prefer a Google Talk client for the Mac if I had to choose.

Google Desktop for the Mac

Here’s a review of the software. It seems it’s mostly interesting for Macies that are also Googlies — those who use a Mac and anything Google as a lifestyle choice — a group that I’m sure is growing.

An observation about desktop search engines in general: is it just me or are they really not that useful? I must admit I was quite excited about them when desktop search engines just came out, but now I hardly ever use them. Maybe it’s because I’m Dutch and it’s well known that Dutch people are the most organized people on the planet, but I simply don’t touch Spotlight (the Mac’s built-in desktop search) hardly at all. I use Spotlight features in some Mac applications, mostly Mail, but it has been ages since I actually used it from the Finder or that cute Spotlight icon at the top-right of my screen. In the beginning I used it for launching applications, but since I installed Quicksilver, which does this task much faster, I haven’t really touched Spotlight anymore. Is it just me?

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7 Commenti

  1. They said they didn’t need a new search engine either when the two founders went to search for investors.

    Maybe their search results are more relevant?

    Anyway, I got a desktop search app too on my desktop (Beagle, which sucks too much memory) and I use it occasionally when I need to search a document somewhere in my ~/doc or ~/school folder of which I forgot the name.

    Seems I am not that organized.

    #1 Bas Westerbaan

  2. You might want to give this a shot then: http://www.gnome.org/projects/tracker/

    #2 Zef Hemel

  3. I have a lot of e-mail and documents and I often need something that is buried in this pile of data. Google desktop is great for me, before I used to spent hours searching for something (most of the times I gave up before I found it, now most of the times I find it quite easily.

    #3 louwarnoud

  4. Yeah, but let’s face it, you’re not much of an organized Dutch person.

    #4 Zef Hemel

  5. Hmm, I remember someone needing to fill in two forms but forgetting one, how is that for organized?

    #5 louwarnoud

  6. I simply didn’t see there was another form to sign…

    #6 Zef Hemel

  7. I use Spotlight a lot. Simply entering the name of a file I want to open, is so much faster than opening Finder, going to the directory, searching in the dirlist and opening the file.

    #7 Jeffrey

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