digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

Google Desktop for the Mac 1.0

tuaw.com — What's Google Desktop, you ask? It is an application from Google, which indexes the contents of your hard drive (including applications, most files, PDFs, as well as web histories from Safari, Firefox, and Camino) and makes it searchable a la Spotlight. Our PC using friends have had this application for awhile, and it is nice to see that Google has

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • plucas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+74It looks kinda cool, but I think Spotlight is all that I need (especially with the Spotlight improvements in Leopard).
    • Legato, on 10/12/2007, -2/+35i agree, spotlight is part of the operating system's foundation... why would a third party program work better or faster, especially if spotlight is on all the time anyway.
    • Nitrodist, on 10/12/2007, -16/+5I thought the article was going to be about how someone made a Google themed desktop for the Mac OS version 1.0.
    • astrosmash, on 10/12/2007, -7/+8Google has a faster and more powerful search engine. Most everything you know about searching with Google.com and GMail works on the desktop:
      - Search for a phrase: "Foo Bar"
      - Match one but not the other: Foo -Bar
      - Wildcards: "One * Three"
      - Filetypes: "Ace" filetype:pdf
      - Search Mail: From:bob
      etc.

      But as fast and powerful as Google's search engine is, I just haven't found it very useful on Windows. The index goes out of date too easily and the UI just isn't great. Spotlight, on the other hand, has great UI features (Search Folders, Searching a subfolder hierarchy, etc) which makes it at least somewhat useful, if sometimes slow and lacking the ability for advanced queries.

      I'm going to try it out for a bit. I never found it useful in Windows but I use my Mac differently, so who knows. Maybe it will be a nice complement to Spotlight.

      I've noticed that it correctly follows moved and deleted files, which the Windows version never could (at least for me).

    • makepeace, on 10/12/2007, -14/+1Why not Yahoo Desktop Search?

      18 months ago when I was still using a PC I downloaded and used Google Desktop Search for a while. It was revolutionary in that it gave near instant access to files and emails (if you knew what to search for of course). With 4Gb of email accumulated in MS Outlook POP folders this was a breakthrogh - finding stuff in Outlook was next to impossible.

      However even on a PC it was clearly flawed. The database was easily confused when you archived email ect. The web page format (used on early Windows versions at least) duplicated the simplicity of the Google web site - but it turns out to be an inefficient format for desktop results. Armed with my new appreciation of desktop search I went looking for a better mousetrap.

      I tried (and rejected) Copernicus and MS Desktop Search, and fell in love with Yahoo Desktop Search: http://desktop.yahoo.com/
      This is actually a free version of the well thought of X1 Enterprise search software.

      Why do I love it so?

      1) Content is grouped by tabs so if you are looking for an email you go to the email tab.
      2) It makes complex searching simple - by putting a field at the top of every column you can search on multiple terms without learning a cumbersome query language. For example my name in 'From" and someone elses in 'To" and I have all my correspondence to him in a flash.
      3) It searches in real time as you type - the most hated feature of spotlight really works in YDS!
      4) Each word you type is highlighted and color coded and then highlighted in every result line.
      5) Not only are the results listed as a table but the selected row is previewed alongside with all relevant terms highlights.
      [This is the same as spotlight search in Mail but works with all doc types - ie word, excel ect. No need to open a document to see why it was matched.]

      Windows users - run, dont walk, to Yahoo and install this. If you use Outlook you will thank me forever (or at least till you get Vista).

      Mac users - I was so convinced of the power of search after Yahoo that Spotlight integrated into the OS seemed like a major reason to switch, but sadly spotlight is not 10% of the tool that my trusty Yahoo Desktop Search was, and even in Leopard I see no sign that Apple have figured it out. Dont believe me? Install YDS on your parallels partition and give it a try.
    • pmhn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I've found Spotlight to be annoyingly slow and unresponsive with a 60 000 mails and 50 000 files. Google web search can go through gazillion pages in 0.18 seconds. Yes, I know my MBP isn't a search cluster, but Google's algorithms must be more streamlined than Spotlight's for their web search to work like it does.
    • h00ligan, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1sorry wrong reply slot
    • TheMacThinker, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3Honestly, what would google desktop bring that Apple Spotlight doesn't have? I don't think anything can compete with spotlight on Mac.
      Don't even bother using up your machine resources with google desktop search...
      http://www.mostofmymac.com
    • HunterTV, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8"Our PC using friends..."

      You mean "enemey combatants."
  • dcharti, on 10/12/2007, -19/+8This rules, if anything *just* for being able to search my Gmail messages offline. Final nail in Mail.app's coffin for me!
    • adcat, on 10/12/2007, -6/+48But Mac mail makes that nice little whooshy sound when you send a message!
    • clickmyface, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24Uh.. what? you don't use pop Gmal in Mail.app? Because I do, and you can search your mailboxes (ala Gmail) offline.... you don't even need to use spotlight...but you can... mails built in search is fine...
    • boybunny, on 10/12/2007, -48/+2clickmyface

      My wife and I do not use the POP3 features in GMail... because in our experience OSX is far too unstable. We have repeatedly lost email, about two years worth of emails because Apple has a very unstable OS when it comes to reliability. We like to back up, but OSX has no features or third party apps that allows saving of email. Apple force people to pay $100 US a year for that privilege. Sorry, but if it isn't in the OS is isn't in the OS... like Microsoft creating a buggy OS so they can sell you their antivirus tools.

      We have our email on GMail and addressbook on addressshare.com. This data is too precious to trust to OSX.
    • boybunny, on 10/12/2007, -43/+2Just watch as the Apple faithful turn on one of their own for daring to question "Apple, creator of all"... It's laughable just how PATHETIC these morons are. The fanatics were one of a few reasons my wife and I put off buying our first Macs for four years. We know others who still want to switch, but are scared of being associated with these idiots. Tell me, fanatics, was the lobotomy painful?
    • brennankeller, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16@boybunny

      or here is a better solution...
      1.) go log into you your gmail account
      2.) go to settings
      3.) then to forwarding and POP
      4.) then to "When messages are accessed with POP" and select archive GMail's copy

      your problem is solved in 4 easy steps...
    • tdowling, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23Try not to be too bitter, boybunny - you're sure to get dug down when you make a statement like "Apple has a very unstable OS when it comes to reliability," which those of us who are experienced with the OS know is not true. Your experience with losing mail data (was there no backup on the server?) is not typical.

      And you don't need .Mac to back stuff up...there are *plenty* of other cheap or free options out there.
    • nycmac247, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3also, whan't the last time you rebuilt your mailbox(es)?
      and how much RAM do you have?
    • boybunny, on 10/12/2007, -15/+1tdowling

      It is good that you have... sorry to tell you that my wife and I have lost ALL our data on our macs FIVE TIMES now in the past three years. We have most of the evidence still here if you want to come and have a look at it. I call ***** that OSX never wipes out and never takes your data with it.

      It's an OS, not Jesus!
    • boybunny, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1nycmac247

      A rebuild of the mailboxes was a bit impossible when the whole drive was corrupted.

      We have had a few systems go down on us (one repeatedly)... from 512MB to 1.5 GB.

      If there was an Apple store in Australia we may have gone there asking for a genius. Unfortunately there is none... we have been thinking of taking a pile of useless machines in to have the Genius look over it all (out of warrantee now) when Apple finally open the FIRST Apple store in Australia later this year. We doubt we will get any joy. Apple does not care for customers outside USA.
    • boybunny, on 10/12/2007, -12/+1brennankeller

      It solves one of many problems having all your data destroyed. How about Address Book? Files we now safely save on a Windows Server, so we have solved the file problem.
    • h00ligan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11if you are losing data that frequently either you have bad hardware or you are doing something wrong. period. Of course the os isn't perfect, but it doesn't lose data like that unless you are rocking over a 4 gb pst in entourage. Which is MICROSOFT'S fault.
    • tdowling, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7boybunny: sounds like a bad hard drive or a problem between the chair and the keyboard. Or maybe you or your wife just has a really magnetic personality. Whatever it is, the OS is not to fault when problems are that rampant. This goes for any major system out there. OS X is not Jesus, but it ain't Satan either.
    • boybunny, on 10/12/2007, -14/+1h00ligan

      Who knows if it is the hardware. You DO NOT want me to start listing the hardware faults we have had in the past three years. It will not look good for Apple at all... its a list that makes the HDD problems look really short. Simply no new apple machine or apple hardware has worked on shipping or for the first three weeks. NO, outside USA there is no DOA available and no repair system we have experienced that has returned the same machine with the problem fixed... in fact the idiots who have been pulling the machines apart return equipment back to us with severe damage (by severe, we don't mean a few scratches). So we learned that in some countries it is not advisable to send your Macs back to Apple for repair.

      The only machine that has worked for us no problems is a second hand 600Mhz G3. THis makes us suspect that Apple have dropped quality control for this part of the world in the past five years.

      Are we doing anything wrong? Well my wife got her computer training in '82-'83 and I have been happily using graphics apps on Amigas since '88 and every other machine that has existed since then. Are you really going to tell me that by using the dock to launch graphics programs that I can cause a powerbook to wipe out?! How about an iBook?

      The reality is that my wife and I are so sick of hardware faults on Macs in this part of the world (oh, Apple have sewn up the market so much we can't order a reliable "American Mac" and have it shipped here) that we have decided that we will refuse to buy another Mac without testing every part of the machine before handing the cash over.
    • boybunny, on 10/12/2007, -13/+1tdowling

      Well who knows, maybe there is a problem between the chair and the desk... At least I am not a mindless apologist!

      Seriously, for you and the people who continually make this personal or say it is just a fluke... the more you do this, the more I will say about the problems we have had and the lack of any support from Apple we have received. The reality is that I can keep talking about this in many places on the net. Some support goes a long way when someone feels so damn ripped off by your precious Apple.
    • tdowling, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Not trying to be an apologist...just trying to be realistic about where problems stem from. You're obviously frustrated, boybunny, and that's understandable. Some people have bad experiences with a computer system, and they turn away from it never to come back again...that's how it goes. You're just one of the unlucky ones, unfortunately.
    • purpanther, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3>>>... sorry to tell you that my wife and I have lost ALL our data on our macs FIVE TIMES now in the past three years. We have most of the evidence still here if you want to come and have a look at it. I call ***** that OSX never wipes out and never takes your data with it.

      True sign of user error .. I've seen a couple of flaky Macintosh machines (logic boards mostly) and the occasional bad hard drive. Never multiple cases of lost data even with the most novice user. Somebody please help this guy use his computer - whether it's Mac or Win.
    • boybunny, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1purpanther

      User error like the guy here in Australia who got a Macbook sometime in the last month? It was DOA... he complained hard enough to have it replaced within days. He had a DOA. He complained hard enough to have it replaced within days. He had a DOA. He complained hard enough to have it replaced within days. He had a DOA. He complained hard enough to have it replaced within days. He had a DOA. He complained hard enough to have it replaced within days. He had a DOA. He complained hard enough to have it replaced within days. Then Apple just handed his money back and told him they would not deal with him again.

      Something is not right in this part of the world. Many people do not have problems, but there are many who get nothing but problems.

      Since you have asked for it. Apple considers a DOA Powerbook screen not important enough to fix. Screen displays less than 50% brightness and has one corner that is completely black. Apple ships iBook with added factory options with trackpad and keyboard buckled up into the screen (effect is like a swollen battery in the middle of the iBook forcing upward). Apple considers iBook battery latch broken not worthy of repair so battery falls out twice a day onto the ground. Apple repair people break the supports that hold the rubber feet, not important enough for Apple to repair. Apple break the top case during repair. Apple broke the bottom case during repair. Apple do not fasten screws inside iBook so iBook logic board shorts out just out of warrantee. iBook factory installed option includes WiFi which works with good "non Apple" equipment at line of sight up to five meters. This is still better then the four meters for any signal from the Powerbook. Apple ship us DOA Airport Extreme. B performance is bad with more dropped packets than good at 3 meters line of sight. G Wifi is impossible. B performance is only stable within inches of Airport Extreme. 20" cinema display with DOA USB ports. Never repaired. Mac Mini with intermittent problems like unexplained shutdowns Not brave enough to ask for a repair.

      These do not include the times the machines or OSX screwed a full HDD worth of data. It is not the HDDs, testing shows they are physically perfect.

      In my daily life I use computers about 12 hours a day. I have done since '88. I have only ever had one HDD failure I would put down to the Amigas OS in 10 years of operation. In six years of Windows usage I had two physically dead HDDs, Windows never damaged the data. SGIs, Archimedes, and 68040 Macs never caused any HDD problems.

      so purpanther, now that you have accused me of not knowing how to use a computer, I can now promise you and whoever dugg you up that I will not stop telling people my story. Maybe you can be thanked by the other Mac users for pissing me off enough to make it a crusade. I have been treated VERY badly by Apple, and also by a lot of OSX users like yourself. You may not listen, but Windows users thinking of switching WILL listen. Thank you for your time.
  • Universal, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Link to download: https://www.google.com/dl/mac/install/GoogleDesktop.dmg from http://www.google.com/mac.html
    • myfanwy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2thanks, the server looked like it was starting to struggle, it's about to get taken out by the digg effect
    • ilgaz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I hope it is taken out by google listening to mac users who doesn't want a freaking unique identifier and net connection which will break the entire OS security,

      Google doesn't have "digg effect" or "slashdot effect". It is Google.
  • Universal, on 10/12/2007, -8/+5There's also a Google Updater thinggy as well. Just like the Google Pack. Nice!
    • clickmyface, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13you're excited about a seperate application to update other applications? Er...
  • ewcost, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27Nice, but I like Spotlight.
    • Greyarea, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6So do I, but I wish there was a way to turn off the "start searching after you've typed 3 chars" bit. Bogs down a bit on an older machine.
  • halvertos, on 10/12/2007, -4/+24why would i give Google access to view my entire system?
    • clickmyface, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Great question.
    • halvertos, on 10/12/2007, -13/+2shrimpdesign, you're naive
    • salmonmoose, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6because you've misplaced your tin foil hat? Seriously, who are you to think Google actually cares what you email your grandma?
    • halvertos, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8sir, yes sir!

      geez, digg this down please...how embarrassing.
    • Azap, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Remember, do no evil
    • joebagodonuts, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0@shrimpdesign

      OK. You're naive.

      Whoops! nevermind
  • lipa, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4i used it on my windows machine and it was bad,......
    there are better apps spotlight quicksilver etc. that actually work and learn
    • moisie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I wouldn't use the quality of anything related to windows as something with which to judge Mac software. It may be rubbish but give it a chance.
  • DOGPARTY, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Does this include the sidebar?
    That might be worth using if its nice and smooth, unlike the flickery mess of the windows version.
  • AceTracer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4That article did little to explain to me why I should use Google Desktop over Spotlight. If it was faster I'd switch without hesitation, but even that's comparable. And the UI doesn't seem nearly as refined.
  • superrcat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+82 years too late.
  • superrcat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"Your copy of Google Desktop includes a unique application number. When you install Google Desktop, this number and a message indicating whether the installation succeeded are sent back to Google. Also, when Google Desktop automatically checks to see if a new version is available, the current version number and the unique application number are sent to Google. The unique application number is required for Google Desktop to work and cannot be disabled."

    http://desktop.google.com/mac/privacypolicy.html
    • geekitechture, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2What's Google Desktop, you ask? Just the worst invasion of your privacy ever. Download now!
    • bsander, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Those bastards, trying to steal my unique application number!
    • ilgaz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I don't "love" Adium (I am even banned from their channel) or iChat but especially Adium is an open source application which doesn't need to create a Unique Identifier to check for updates.

      Blaming someone for "Tinfoil"? I blame someone to be "naive" because he/she thinks Google is very nice, good guys just because they said so! It is a billon dollar monster company which gets income from Ads by analysing content.

      I don't claim any company that size (including Yahoo) to be "nice" but they didn't say they aren't evil, at least they are straight.

  • thefourth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It's about time!

    But it will be interesting to see how this does compete and/or supplement Spotlight/Quicksilver search. The cache feature is a definite bonus and it's amusing to see Google launch this feature before Apple could (will be integrated feature in pending Leopard).

    The article does make a good point about integration. It is always a tough call whether or not apps should be bundled, integrated into the OS, or purely stand alone. Although we are headed toward a Google only computer experience, why must they bundle desktop software? It makes sense to bundle their online offerings, but I prefer to choose which apps I install (btw, I use Google Notifier, this is just a general comment) on my machine.
  • zdiddy85, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12How about a native Google Talk app? I know Adium incorporates the jabber client, but I would like the "Talk" portion of Gtalk to work just as fluently as the PC application.
    • kmccormi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3yeah, or at least make the google talk app work in gmail when using Safari. Google had a page that's an homage to the mac dock but it was taken down (mirror here: http://www.theplaceforitall.com/googlex/) so obviously they like macs. So why aren't their apps more mac-friendly?
    • ilgaz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Google could ship a quicktime component for their "open" talk feature, notify Adium developers or logon to CVS (or SVN,whatever) and add that feature to Adium themselves.

      Of course they would prefer a application with unique identifier to "check for updates" :)
  • juliob, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Major Security Risk.

    Anyone considering installing Google Desktop should familiarize themselves with the risks by visiting
    http://ha.ckers.org/blog/20070222/google-desktop-the-saga-continues/
    • ilgaz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ask Apple why they didn't "network enable" spotlight and why Leopard Spotlight on client will only be LAN/Local Network enabled. They didn't take the risk at all. Very clever.

      That is why we pay $140 and hardware price for this platform, not because Apple claims they are not evil and no, we aren't installing a third party application even if Pope sits and codes in Objective C to have a function which is already on our KERNEL.
  • foshaug, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1http://desktop.google.com/en/install.html returns a 404 at the moment
  • YourEvilness, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0WHOA! with all this addition Mac will have to remove those comercials which give Microsoft ***** for having a firewall :P

    http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/
  • osage, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1SPOTLIGHT
  • seanm, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4It's nice that Google is releasing more Mac apps lately, but I don't see the point in this. Spotlight does all of that and it's built into the OS too.
  • iMoth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3yea, i'll use spotlight & quicksilver.

    thanks, though.
  • rtini, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I guess it's cool for people to play with before Leopard comes out.

    It seems like a bad idea to install something like this in beta form though...
  • koalua, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0On windows, Exalead Desktop Search allows very advanced queries (regexp etc...) and many refinement possibilities (filetype, from, to, language, date, related terms, people, organizations, etc...) http://www.exalead.com/download/exaleadDesktop
    (I work for that start-up by the way :o) )

  • ilgaz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Google Desktop is "cool" for Windows users allthough it had a very interesting security issue recently.

    http://news.com.com/Google+admits+Desktop+security+risk/2100-1002_3-6041338.html

    Pay $140 to OS X Tiger, give up my OS low level running Spotlight and install Google desktop which won't do anything more rather than sending unique identifier to Google, a company which thinks Cell phones supported by Ads are "cool", Renders private mails to show ads in trade of a POP3 (yes, POP!) account and so on...

    Who blamed Mac users to be "fanboys" again? I have a better candidate for that terms coverage.

    If you install it, make sure it checks for updates, perhaps another "accidental" security issue exists.
    • flipmeat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you were to do something nutty, like read the Google Mac Blog, http://googlemac.blogspot.com/ , one of the Desktop Mac engineers explains how it is not a straight port of Desktop Windows. I'll save you the click:

      "...we know that simply "porting" to the Mac is not a good idea. So we took the time to develop a product that deeply integrates into Mac OS X and maintains its high standards of usability. This is a Mac product through and through, from the bezel on our search box down to correctly (and securely) handling multiple users and FileVault."
  • AtWorkSurfer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Google, if you're reading this, please, please release Picasa for OS X. I would be happy to pay for it, even.
  • ThankTheCheese, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3(Spotlight + Quicksilver) > Google Desktop
  • bobv, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Thank you google for making another program I should have never installed.
  • di0rz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3this is lame, why do we need it if there is already spotlight in the system.
  • erictheninja, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2FYI: The software resets your default browser and IM clients to Safari and iChat.
  • torano, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I figured with Google's affinity to open source that they would have done this for Linux first, rather than Mac which has its own gadgets. Frustrating.
    • astrosmash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Google knows where the action's at.
  • sjweisser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Anybody know if Google Desktop searches network drives? If so, since it is on your local machine, how does it handle indexing changes on a networked drive made by others?
  • NordicSkiing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My desktop is all totally pimped out!
  • kadrock, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Between Spotlight and Quicksilver I have no need for this app.
    • demonotaku, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Agreed. I just use Quicksilver and that seems to do just about the same thing. Plus I'm going to assume that the QS file is MUCH smaller than the Google one. Also, when you download QS, you don't get a *****-ton of other things that they want you to download thrown in your face.
    • Avenge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Don't forget PowerSwitch
  • Sakkath, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Spotlight is all I need.
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.