- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows XP
- Date added: September 04, 2009
- Total Downloads: 372,640
- Downloads last week: 1,387
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 335 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
Simple, small, and free, Google Desktop indexes your hard drive the way Google's own servers index the Web. Your search results are returned in a Web-page format that looks very similar to the Google Web site. The application's sidebar regularly updates the status of your e-mail, photos, RSS feeds, and weather.
Although the initial indexing period can crawl--especially if you have a lot of e-mail, contacts, chat transcripts, and documents for it to parse through--it's well worth the wait to be able to search any of them from a text entry box that's installed next to the Quick Launch bar. You'll still find the same basic gadget content: a music player, sports and stock tickers, a file shredder, and wackier items like an interactive plant. We like the Desktop sidebar's built-in to-do list, notepad, and the capability to integrate other gadgets with ease.
Version 5 is fully compatible with Windows Vista, emulating the rounded corners and translucent panels and capable of overriding the native Vista sidebar. There's also cross-indexing for multiple machines and sharing panel items directly with friends. The sharpest new feature is the preview window for search results, which saves a lot of time on clicking, opening, and closing.
Other programs with lighter feature sets may offer quicker and easier indexing and searching. Nevertheless, the efficient and feature-rich Google Desktop Search stands as yet another feather in the company's quite decorated cap.
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Publisher's description
From Google :Google Desktop will offer full text search over your email, computer files, chats, and the web pages you've viewed. By making your computer searchable, it puts your information easily within your reach and frees you from having to manually organize your files, emails, and bookmarks. It introduces new ways to access relevant and timely information. When you view a web page in Internet Explorer, it caches or stores its content so that you can later look at that same version of the page, even if its live content has changed or you're offline. It organizes email search results into conversations, so that all email messages in the same thread are grouped into a single search result.
Version 5.9.909 adds support for Windows XP SP3 and Firefox 3, and adds a preference to display the deskbar on the left of the taskbar.
What's new in this version:
Version 5.9.909 adds support for Windows XP SP3 and Firefox 3, and adds a preference to display the deskbar on the left of the taskbar.More popular Search Tools downloads
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.3 stars out of 335 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 28 user reviewsSee all 28 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Google Desktop 5.9.909.2235
Pros: Very good, does the job.
Cons: No real cons
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Version: Google Desktop 5.9.909.2235
"Brilliant- fast freindly and does not get in the way"
Pros: fast and easy to use, gives vista widgets a run for their money and it is free what more can i say
Cons: well athough it is great somtimes on startup you will have to run the program yoursef
Summary: need i say more? well i let you decide
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Version: Google Desktop 5.9.909.2235
Pros: I have the weather in several cities where my kids live. I like the small monthly calendar. It beats opening outlook. I like the notepad.
Cons: Sometimes it doesn't hide itself properly.
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Google Desktop 5.9.909.2235
"seems to work ok but want it to stay as part of igoogle"
Pros: Has plenty of nice features ... Haven't used it too much yet ,,, but it has help me find misplaced files. it gives a nice snapshot of related files in different directories (ie photos and documents) and shows them together
Cons: need to sort or group the results better
Summary: Good product overall ... keep on working to refine
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Version: Google Desktop 5.9.909.2235
"Didn't like the way it took over my desktop settings."
Pros: Easy download. Sidebar was OK but like windows vers better.
Cons: Cancelled my windows sidebar settings w/o authorization. Annoying search box would just appear w/o authorization. Try options and it wouldn't cancel.
Summary: I didn't like the way this program worked on my computer. Kept getting the Google search field on my desktop for no reason and was unable to get rid of it. Sidebar was OK but windows program is better. Once downloaded google would cancel the window... read more >>
- See all 28 user reviews Write review
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