Slashdot Mirror


Google Launches Desktop Search Tool

hanky writes "Google brings search to your very desktop with Google Desktop, a mini Google index of your own. Search your filesystem, Outlook or Outlook Express inbox, AIM instant message transcripts, and Internet Explorer cache. There's a full introduction to the Google Desktop over at the O'Reilly Network. It's Windows-only, but still cool enough for this Mac guy to find it intriguing."

28 of 715 comments (clear)

  1. The horns of a dilemma... by Control+Group · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Oh, the indecision!

    Being able to google my machine would be the best thing this side of perpetual motion.

    Having to start doing everything with AIM, IE, Outlook and MS-Office would be the worst thing this side of the universal solvent.

    Why, oh why, did they have to specifically aim this at all the apps I don't use?

    --

    Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
    1. Re:The horns of a dilemma... by l1nuxpunk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I agree with you on this one.

      I'd use this tool in a minute if I wasn't using IRC, firefox, thunderbird and StarOffice on OS X.

      Open source community, I hear a cry for a new project.

      --
      Prontab.net - Porn for geeks. (nsfw)
    2. Re:The horns of a dilemma... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Outlook 2000+, Outlook Express 5+, IE5+, and AOL IM... You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany.

    3. Re:The horns of a dilemma... by Bun · · Score: 5, Funny

      Read myself journal when you are not understand. I am German and don't attack English!

      Buddy...if that isn't an attack on English, I don't know what is.

      --
      "Anyone that has ever gotten an idea based on any of my work and done something better with it-good for you."--J.Carmack
    4. Re:The horns of a dilemma... by xanadu-xtroot.com · · Score: 5, Funny

      ...so worthless if you have Windows ME.

      I think you put the word "worthless" in the wrong spot in that statement...

      --
      I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
      I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
    5. Re:The horns of a dilemma... by eyeball · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm a Mac user, and this made me shrug. The next version of OSX due out (early next year I think) has this feature built-in. What's neat is it's integrated into the OS, and the APIs are exposed, so developers can easily take advantage of it.

      --

      _______
      2B1ASK1
    6. Re:The horns of a dilemma... by DigitumDei · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You know, now 90% of my mail is done through GMail. All my searching on the internet is done through Google. Now all my searching my PC will be done by Google.

      They might as well just write a bloody all-in-one operating system and get it over with. :P

      Seriously, I'd love to see them make a linux distro. Maybe it'd suck, but with their track record I'm betting it wouldn't.

    7. Re:The horns of a dilemma... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
      Milo of Kroton is a known troll that switched from perfectly fluent English (and something saying he took German in high school) to Gerlish.
      I wouldn't have believed this if I hadn't checked on it myself, but it's true. This guy used to type perfectly fluently.

      Hmm, wonder what happened.
    8. Re:The horns of a dilemma... by anaesthetica · · Score: 5, Informative

      You don't have to wait until next year to have this type of application on your Mac actually. Check out Launchbar, Quicksilver and Butler. All do exactly what the Google Desktop does, only they are able to search through more types of files and items, and are better integrated with the filesystem. It's nice that Google threw Window's users a bone though. I may use it at work.

    9. Re:The horns of a dilemma... by tanguyr · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Overall, i'd have to give it a 9 out of a possible 10, and i'm in much the same case as you are (all the good stuff not on C:\, incompatible browser software, etc.). The reason i'm giving it such a high score is that this software targets the "average" user and does a completely brilliant job of it. A 400k download followed by (this is the kicker) a question-free installation and it "just works". Software a son could love, but a mother could install.

      The inmates have been evicted, someone else is running this asylum.

      --
      #!/usr/bin/english
    10. Re:The horns of a dilemma... by marshall_j · · Score: 5, Informative

      http://desktop.google.com/support/bin/request.py

      Look! They have a specific category on their feedback page for asking to Firefox support.

      Why not jump on and ask them to hurry up and support it. They aren't psychic (or maybe they are. gooogle is pretty damn good).

  2. Gee - if only I used MS products.... by rueger · · Score: 5, Informative

    Doesn't work with Mozilla, or Opera, or Pegasus mail, or Eudora..... Guess I'll wait for something less MS centric.

    1. Re:Gee - if only I used MS products.... by TheJavaGuy · · Score: 5, Informative
      Google does support (partially) other browsers. I copied the url into opera and I got the following message:

      Our software suggests that you're using a browser incompatible with Google Desktop Search. Google Desktop Search currently supports the following:
      Microsoft IE 5 and newer (Download)
      While we're still testing Google Desktop Search, you can also click here to use your unsupported browser, though you likely will encounter some areas that don't work as expected. You need to have Javascript enabled, regardless of the browser you use.
      We hope to expand this list in the near future and announce new browsers as they become available. In the meantime, you can use IE 5 and newer.

      It seems to work fine in opera (for now).

      --
      Opera Watch - An Opera browser blog.
    2. Re:Gee - if only I used MS products.... by balster+neb · · Score: 5, Informative

      Firefox 'partially' supported. See this:

      http://desktop.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?an swer=10135&topic=96

      Anyway, hope they someday release it for an OS other than Windows.

  3. Holy crap its good. by VC · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thanks to me being a slashdot subscriber ive now had this for 6 mins and can offer a 6 minute review.

    GOOGLE DESKTOP HAS CHANGED MY LIFE!!!

    i achived in the past 5 minutes more than the previous 3 weeks. It found my car keys (they were under the pile of oreily books)!!!

  4. might not be a good thing by kevinx · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now my wife could easily find out if I've been downloading porn.

    Great intention, bad Idea.

  5. Re:I've installed this by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Informative

    Already two Mac people in my office are fairly jealous, because this is what they thought Sherlock would be- but wasn't.
    It's also what Spotlight should be...(next release of OS X, Tiger)

  6. No Mac, No Thanks by Power+Everywhere · · Score: 5, Funny

    Come on Google, PowerPC users are a significant share of your audience.

  7. Holy pop culture reference! by irokitt · · Score: 5, Funny

    It helped me find a girlfriend! Thank you Google Desktop Search!

    --
    If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
    1. Re:Holy pop culture reference! by AbbyNormal · · Score: 5, Funny

      It helped me find HIS girlfriend too! Thanks again Google Desktop Search!

      --
      Sig it.
    2. Re:Holy pop culture reference! by kkovach · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ya mean something like this?

      Results...

      1.) Jenna.jpg
      2.) Janine.jpg
      3.) etc...

      - Kevin

      --
      The less confident you are, the more serious you have to act.
  8. Tell Google what you'd like to see, then by theluckyleper · · Score: 5, Informative

    The product is still in beta, and on the About Google Desktop page, they say:

    "Google Desktop Search is still under development as a beta product. We intend to add new file, email, and chat formats and browsers as Google Desktop Search evolves, and when new formats are created and used. If there's a format you'd like Google Desktop Search to be able to search, please let us know. We can't guarantee that we'll add every type that's suggested, but your suggestions will let us know what formats are important to you."

    I'm going to go suggest a couple right now, and get in on the ground floor :)

    --
    Visit the Game Programming Wiki!
  9. Google operating system - the next MS ?? by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 5, Interesting
    First Google was cool and independent. Now with e-mail account, "G" searchbox included in your favourite browser, maybe a browser of their own, instant messaging, shareholders onboard, and... a desktop?

    What's next? The Google operating system? Are we looking at the beginnings of a next-generation Microsoft-like empire?

  10. Request new file formats by illuin · · Score: 5, Informative
    According to the FAQ, you can request that Google Desktop support new file formats.

    Of course, what would be really nice is if new formats were supported via plugins, and if google would distribute a simple API so the open source community could contribute new plugins rather than waiting for google to implement them.

  11. Re:Requires 1gig free space! by illuin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Only one possible conclusion to be drawn: Google Desktop must contain a trojan distributed file system which provides the storage space for GMail ;-)

    It's just a little game of give and take (a gig)

  12. indeed, might not be a good thing by AvantLegion · · Score: 5, Funny
    Now you can easily find out I've been talking dirty on AIM with your wife.

    Great intention, bad Idea.

  13. A very difficult thing but not that uncommon by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Simply put, MS can't see the trees through the woods, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

    MS is big. Really really really big. Gigantic. This means that often things are not going to be moving all that fast but worse still it allows for a real danger off management explosion. 10 progammers need 1 manager. 100 programmers need 10 manager and a manager to manage the managers. 10.000 programmers need 100 managers plus 10 managers of managers and 1 to manage all them and so on right?

    WRONG. It is more like 100 programmers need about 10 technical officers, 10 project leaders, 5 project supervisors, a human resource staff, marketing, etc etc etc. To lazy to type it all out but I been in situations where software development had me the programmer reporting to well over a dozen managers all who had their own agenda. So I spend less time programming then doing meetings.

    Worse a really good programmer who just spends his time developing will be quickly out of the loop and unable to find an audience for his ideas.

    MS probably has several teams who could easily do this. They are just lost somewhere in the management jungle.

    Why not find them? Well why should they? Management is doing okay, windows keeps selling the bonusses keep coming in. Why should management go after those creepy skilled programmers when they can deal with nicely suited once who speak their language and deliver the next point upgrade not to much past the deadline?

    Lets be honest (ms apologists cover your ears) MS has never been an inovative company at the leading edge. For crying out loud, it started as a unix company after every one else already had done unix and then turned it into dos.

    it added a gui only after only everyone else had done one and stole the design. it only got a somewhat 32bit OS by stealing it from IBM and the final irony (someone else pointed this out to me recently) only got that 32bit after others had already had gone to 64bit.

    MS can do it 5 times faster, if it wanted. It doesn't. So far playing catchup has worked extremely well. What you don't like the MS search function? Your not that bright are you? The only reason you don't like it is because you paid MS to use it. They got your money wether you like it or not. Your confused and poor, Billy isn't.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  14. Searching for porn.. by blekkazzen · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a lot less fun when your Google search finds your OWN porn.