- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows XP
- Date added: May 11, 2006
- Total Downloads: 332,208
- Downloads last week: 770
- See full specifications
A newer version of Google Desktop is available.
(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 334 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
Simple, small, and free, Google Desktop indexes your hard drive the way the company's own servers index the World Wide Web. Your search results are returned in a Web-page format that looks very similar to the Google Web site. This application offers some excellent features and searches the most important documents and locations, including local Microsoft Office files, PDFs, archived files, e-mail messages, chat transcripts, and the Web browser cache. You also can download or develop plug-ins for searching other types of documents and customizing the display of search results. Like other local-search products, Google Desktop installs an indexing engine on your computer that runs whenever your PC is idle. Once the index is built, search results return blazingly quick. If you have multiple machines, Google lets you save indexes centrally so you can run remote-desktop searches across all your PCs. Also, you can now drag the Sidebar around the screen and share panel items directly with friends.
Version 4 adds Google Gadgets, which are desktop applets that offer a range of tools including a music player, sports and stock tickers, a file shredder, and an interactive plant. The Web-based interface will be second nature to Google regulars, but we're not yet convinced it's the best way to scan local search results. Other programs with lighter feature sets 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 cap.
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Publisher's description
From Google :Instantly find your e-mail, files, media, Web history, and chats. By making your computer searchable, Google Desktop Search puts your information easily within your reach. It frees you from having to manually organize your files, e-mail, and Web pages you've viewed.
Version 4 adds Google Gadgets, which are interactive mini-applications that offer everything from games to search tools to media players.
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User reviews of Google Desktop 4
- Average user rating: 3.3 stars out of 334 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 40 user reviewsSee all 40 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
34 out of 37 people found this review helpful
Version: Google Desktop 4
Cons: Indexing will slow down the computer, on Windows I have put indexing off, for this reason.
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53 out of 60 people found this review helpful
Version: Google Desktop 4
"Google Copies Your Hard Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation"
Cons: Consumers Should Not Use New Google Desktop
San Francisco - Google today announced a new "feature" of its Google Desktop software that greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy. If a consumer chooses to use it, the new "Search Across Computers" feature will store copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google's own servers, to enable searching from any one of the user's computers. EFF urges consumers not to use this feature, because it will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for hackers who've obtained a user's Google password.
"Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government snooping into Google's search logs, it's shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "If you use the Search Across Computers feature and don't configure Google Desktop very carefully�and most people won't�Google will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents the Desktop software can index. The government could then demand these personal files with only a subpoena rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same things from your home or business, and in many cases you wouldn't even be notified in time to challenge it. Other litigants�your spouse, your business partners or rivals, whoever�could also try to cut out the middleman (you) and subpoena Google for your files."
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8 out of 10 people found this review helpful
Version: Google Desktop 4
Pros: This program is useful but really unnessary. Indexing, rss feeds, news, weather, and other add-ons are pretty nice.
Cons: But, all this can be done with less annoyiance by using firefox plugins, which is the way I go :p.
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13 out of 15 people found this review helpful
Version: Google Desktop 4
Pros: Sidebar is great, with my news and RSS feeds popping up on my screen every few minutes!
The gadgets are nice too, but there could be more of them.
YOU CAN DISABLE THE COMPUTER SHARING FEATURE!
The double-Ctrl feature is very handy at times.
Cons: Nothing really, although I don't use the actual desktop feature at all really, so if you aren't going to use the sidebar or the gadgets, it's pretty much worthless.
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Version: Google Desktop 4
"Great to search on a network"
Pros: Its a great feature if you need to search a network for that missing document.
Cons: I would not install it onto a computer connected to the internet. Where do the logs of your search results go? Google by any chance?
I don't like the idea of people searching my computer index. If you need to search your PC use the inbuilt one its called "SEARCH".
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