Terrific news out of Google today: They're releasing a Mac version of Google Desktop.
This software, like the PC version, indexes the content of a computer's hard drive and serves it up on familiar Google-style search-result Web pages (or via its own drop-down results list, if you prefer).
But Google Desktop for the Mac is streamlined compared to the busy, gadget-y Windows version, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
The focus is squarely on search -- including local indexing of an online Gmail account of your choice. (This does include the kind offered via the Google Apps for your Domain service.) Too bad the software doesn't index multiple Gmail accounts (I juggle several of 'em, as do many others).
There's some nice twists here. If you delete a file, for instance, the Google software can retrieve a cached version so you don't have to recreate it from scratch.
You get Web-history searching, too, with support for Firefox, Safari and Camino (no mention of OmniWeb). The software will also index your iDisk, if you like.
Google Desktop for Mac feels similar to Apple's own Spotlight -- right down a Spartan search window that pops up with a keyboard combo you can customize.
I'm guessing I'll use both Spotlight and Google Desktop -- especially since Spotlight divvies up its search results into categories, which Google Desktop apparently doesn't do.
You access the software's preferences via a System Preferences pane.
The software (classified as a beta, of course) should be available here by early tomorrow morning.
The download includes a Mac version of Google Updater, a piece of software that keeps track of all the Google software on your computer (such as Google Notifier, Google Earth and Picasa Uploader) and fetches updates when available.
Update: More, more and more (and still more) on this.
