Google Desktop has been released back in 2004, when Windows didn't include a powerful desktop search engine. Since then, Google added support for gadgets and launched versions for Mac and Linux. Now that Windows Vista and Windows 7 include many of the features available in Google Desktop, Google's software is no longer important.
Here are some signs which show that the software will soon be discontinued:
1. One of the built-in gadgets is a small Twitter app that has been last updated in September 2009. Unfortunately for Google, Twitter changed the authentication API and the gadget can no longer be used.
2. Google Desktop's last significant update was in July 2009.
3. The most recent post from Google Desktop's blog is from July 2009.
4. Google Desktop removed two important features in January: search across computers and shared gadgets. "As of January 20th, 2010, the Search Across Computers and Shared Gadget settings feature will no longer be available. These specific requests to Google Desktop servers will no longer establish a connection."
5. The integration with Google search doesn't work if you enable Google Instant.
6. Google Desktop for Mac is no longer available and it's been replaced by Quick Search Box.
7. Google Desktop gadgets no longer work in iGoogle.
8. Google Desktop doesn't index web history in Google Chrome and Firefox 3.6.
9. Google focuses on migrating your data online, so a desktop search tool won't be very useful.
10. The software is slow, buggy and difficult to maintain.
Thats sad ;/ Because I like that feature from google desktop search, which shows old text files versions.. Its very usefull if doing some little programing. Windows doesn't have it by default search engine..
ReplyDeleteEclipse and Intelij Idea support file history and have for years if you are a programmer. If you have more general need for that, then many of the cloud drive options will support retrieving old versions.
DeleteDesktop is an essential tool at work. I have to be able to index my emails and IMs. Years-old information has come in handy more times than I can count.
ReplyDeleteI think we can safely say that simply the fact that Google Desktop is a Desktop app meant it was gonna be discontinued eventually, especially now that we have CrOS.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteThat's what Gmail and Google Chat are for? Everything is online.
And yeah, I'm not surprised. I'm personally more shocked Desktop lasted this long.
One could also make a list of this type for iGoogle. That the iGoogle gadgets page is still advertising World Cup updates as a "New!" item on Sep 21 2010 is a telling sign. The maintenance of this page is clearly a low priority for whoever is tasked with it.
ReplyDelete@Andrex. I hear ya.
ReplyDeleteI used to live and die on Google Desktop, and when Microsoft finally got its act together (especially in 7), I simply failed to have any further use for it.
Ah, now I just have to wait for Chrome OS blissful oblivion (from the traditional OS).
Google Desktop has saved my ass countless times on its ability to cache text files and deleted emails.
ReplyDeleteIt would be horrible to see it go.
I haven't deleted an email since about 2004. I suggest you just move to the cloud. If you have a problem with accidental deletions, then you have a big problem next time your drive goes out.
DeleteOh dear........this is one of the most painful news I have heard from Google. Google always used to charm and surprise me. This is one of those times when Google hurts me.
ReplyDeleteGoogle Desktop was awesomely useful and its speed and UI was uncomparable to any in the market. It has got many features that are non-existent in any other software. To force its users to work on cloud computing instead of desktop computing, is a very bad approach of Google.
Considering that roughly 70% of corporate PCs still run Windows XP (including mine!) I do not think that google desktop will have a lot of value for the foreseeable future. I think I would cease to function if I did not use google desktop- my 4gb worth of emails sits in a few folders as I know that to one I just perform a google desktop search.
ReplyDeleteAs it is an application even if development of the product stops, it does not mean that you cannot still use it - a benefit of not using a cloud app :-)
I agree with Andrew; I too run XP and plan to stick with it for a while. I did install Windows Search a while ago, but now I only have it enabled for Outlook, as it's slow and lacks certain features. So I still use GDS, it works great, and from time to time I even update my Yahoo Desktop Search index for which I'm sure will still index even the files missed by GDS and/or Windows Search.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing with GDS comparing to others is its simple browser-based search interface. It does the job very well. Pity if it goes away. The same was the case with Altavista desktop search (if anyone still remembers it).
Windows Search 4.0 has pretty much killed Google Desktop - it provides the ability to search and index the contents of files in any folder or folders you choose, including networked folders or shared folders on other machines, plus it indexes outlook emails as well. Excellent tool!
ReplyDeleteWindows search is working now? Windows has always had search, but the problem has always been that there would be missing documents that are invisible until you reindex.
DeleteYep, it's a goner. We are spending more time in the cloud so it's need is dying.
ReplyDeleteNumber 11: Microsoft Search is working fine.
ReplyDeleteIt was a life save when it came out, but I have no use for it now. Most of my content is stored online, and those that aren't are stored neatly so I can find them quickly.
ReplyDeleteI hope that we will never see 10 reasons why Google Reader or Picasa Desktop or Google Directory or Google Groups will be discontinued. :D And also I hope that all these products will stay up and running.
ReplyDeleteWindows 7 has desktop searching built into it anyway
ReplyDeleteI agree with others about the continued need to use GDS, especially those of us forced to continue to run corporate-XP. windows search is hideously inferior...borderline ineffective.
ReplyDeleteplease keep it available for use.
I don't think that Windows Vista/7 has eliminated GDS' usefulness at all. After having bugs in GDS, given the lack of support Google has provided for its products, I have tried other desktop search apps and found them seriously lacking. I've always simply ended up uninstalling/reinstalling GDS and wouldn't think to use anything else. Hopefully it won't get discontinued anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteCount me among those that rely heavily on Google Desktop at work and it has been a life saver many times. I'm not saying that Windows 7 hasn't made it less essential for new computers, but businesses are still heavily into XP and still avoiding cloud computing. So long as XP is common in the workplace there will always be a huge need for Google Desktop. Keep it going!
ReplyDeleteIt's not just Google Desktop. Google really needs to clean their entire house. There are a lot Google stuff floating around that hasn't been updated in a long time.
ReplyDeleteLike Google ChromeOS. Ditch it. No one wants it or needs it. The desktop is dead anyway and you already have a major presence in the mobile space which is the future.
Somehow I never got through the insanely long initial scan, and considering most of my documents/emails are online, had no use for it. I prefer the ultra-light and quick Everything for local file search, though it doesn't index file content.
ReplyDeleteXP needs to die anyways. Like, seriously. The sooner XP dies the better the world will be.
ReplyDelete"Like Google ChromeOS. Ditch it. No one wants it or needs it. The desktop is dead anyway and you already have a major presence in the mobile space which is the future."
Lollerskates!
I use XP and outlook 2003 at work & couldn't function without Google Desktop for searching email!
ReplyDeleteI honestly flinched and yelped when I read this...I hope this talk of discontinuation is just a false assumption. As long as there is *any* kind of desktop outside the cloud, I hope GDT will stay with us.
ReplyDeleteThere are still a lot of people who function mostly offline, or using very slow connections (e.g. in many developing countries). Google Desktop was great for creating local cached versions of every web pages I visited, so that I could always go back and find them offline.
ReplyDeleteAnd number 11: Microsoft made Google a mathematically sound subsidy to allow GDT to atrophy into Internet artifact oblivion, hence no need to pour the same billion into maintaining the fantasy that Google is anything better than a cloning, buying and boasting piece of internet shiite, much like GDT, exactly like Microsoft itself, LOL, can't clone a clone that is a clone of cloned pieces and a bunch of Intelligence community backed blood money tech farters that everyone seems compelled to sniff and spit all sort of personal information and behavior patterns into, "secure" that their entire networks have not already been designed for wireless super remote sniffing, in fact full daily inhalation LOL.
ReplyDeleteGoogle is subsidized by more than Microsoft and the US Global Intelligence slush funding. Same with Facebook, and many other "overnight" wonder children. NO ONE loses when trillions are available to make sure every facet floats, for the final control of every potential individual, group, and organization that connects to such true sucker's bait built of fear, and doomed for ultimate GLOBAL failure. Don't be a sucker, Google and the rest suck at heart, and are the saddest ahsKissers, who like tech lawyers no the ugly truth, but say zilch as long as their johnson, like Einstein's, is stroked properly by the powers that really are, for empty fame, and emptier fortune.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Gate's and others jumped that sell out Nazi rat ship, and Google floats faster onward on sails filled with bowel gases from a rotted shamelessly greedy super-global-substructure formerly known as the USA. Don't be suckered, and don't fear their supposed "power", the plug WILL be pulled, LOL. They will be devoured by holes within their own "secured" system. Fear not "geeks" and human "kings" are fools like everyone else, LOL.
One of the most important features I have used in GD is the MS Outlook personal folder search. No matter how large it grows, GD's Outlook search plugin is superfast. Even the latest version of outlook, search sucks.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure why People like Microsoft's built in search. It will search alright but GD interface and speed is mindblowing.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI think I can share my experience after testing many Desktop Search softwares : my 10 years archives (about 500 Go) contains about 1.2 Millions html,pdf and .eml files (7 Millions if I add mainly images contained with html saved pages). Alas GDS did not index all the full text of my files but only parts of it ! (Although I think it is great to be able to make searches in gmail).
I prefer currently Copernic Desktop Search pro, for indexing my files. It took me about 3 weeks of indexing work full time to complete on a pentium double core /2Go Ram (about 2 years old computer). Note: I use also the very fast freeware "everything" for locating my video and mp3 files (which I don't index in CDS).
I also use the freeware "gmail backup" from time to time to save my emails as .eml files.
Hope this helps ;)
We had an option to use Google Desktop for Enterprise at the last place I worked in (which is a top 10 IT/Software company), and presumably it is still an option there now (it has been half a year since I left the place). Google Desktop used to work really well for me, specially in integrating deep search of intranet knowledge banks, mailing list archives stored on the local machine, and all other miscellany. This was really useful. I am surprised that it isn't deployed in more places.
ReplyDeletePresumably Google provides something similar for their employees.
this really makes me sad...a lot of the people commenting here doesn't seem to understand what google desktop is. GDS is a great tool for people who work with a lot of documentation that are not available on the web (i.e. proprietary, confidential docs). in terms of user experience, i think GDS is far superior than windows search 4.0. i recently made the commitment to fully move to windows search 4.0 because i did feel that GDS was going to be abandoned by google really soon as there had been no updates for more than a year. it wasn't pleasant experience. windows search 4.0 doesn't initiate search while you type and the interface is cluttered. i like seeing results while i type as based on the results im seeing i can adjust the key words that i used. also in my experience, GDS returns far more relevant results than win search 4.0. GDS is far speedier too. i wish google would reconsider. copernic search is a good option too but i still rank GDS above that. if GDS continues it will drive these other guys to improve their products.
ReplyDeleteSeems to be the same as "Reasons Why Google Talk Will Be Discontinued" ... and I hate thinking about that.
ReplyDeleteam i right?
ReplyDeletewindow search shows result when pst file is open
but GDS shows result even if the pst file was closed( only initially we had yo open it for indexing)
howevr it does not work with outlook2010
Another disappointed user! It's very unfortunate... CTRL+CTRL was a super quick way to get at searching my Outlook Mail
ReplyDeleteJust had an idea: if they do discontinue it, could they please open source the code?
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the civic thing to do once you've lost interest in developing an application? Is there any reason not to?
Can you say: ChromeOS, cloud computing, Chrome Apps, etc. GOOG isn't interested in doing things the "old" way, they want to change the way you look at operating systems, storage, data access and the Web itself. Why should they continue to support software that is in direct opposition to that purpose? Especially when it's now (finally) incorporated in dinosaurware (oops! I meant Windows).
ReplyDeleteIf you must get rid of our old, faithful servent, perhaps you should tell us how to save a copy and then uninstall it properly. Some people will jump the gun or really regret what they have done improperly.
ReplyDeleteWhite elephant George
My ISP is terrible.. I can't "migrate" my data online. If Google is betting big on this, it needs to reconsider. The barriers to hosting everybody's everything are not merely technical, but social and political and quite frankly, genetic. People have personal space and will continue to want that.
ReplyDeleteReally, if Google or anyone else thinks that this is going to change, then they need to stop hiring so heavily towards the Asperger's scale, because their corporate culture is in grave danger of "not getting it" ....
The way ahead is local + remote integration. IF Google is going to withdraw its know-how from the desktop, then another company is going to fill that and then own it.
I do not understand why everybody is pretending Google Desktop software is just a search tool. I've been using outstanding gadgets of GD for years. And, any satisfactory alternatives of those gadgets still can't be find anywhere else. I expect Google that at least it should continue the support for this software in order to develop gadget engineers.
ReplyDeleteThis is awful news. I'm running XP at work with MS Office 2010, which doesn't work with Google Desktop. So I don't have the search enhancement of Windows 7, or the enhanced Google Desktop search and can't do anything about it. :-(
ReplyDeletethis sucks....anyone have a good alternative to GD and windblows search ?
ReplyDeletethanks
I enjoyed GD, but I never found it had enough features for me to accomplish what I needed. Although it's not free I've been very happy with X1 and they have support for MS Office 2010!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Windows 7 made GDS obsolete. Simple fact: I know the name of the file I'm looking for, but I can't remember it's location - Windows search is pretty much useless in this case.
ReplyDeleteSo, despite using Windows 7, I am going to use GDS :)
Can anyone point out an intelligent alternative? I use GMail, GDocs, GCalendar and local files. What else can search Google and a local hard drive?
ReplyDeleteI like desktop but I have to unininstall it :-( I use outlook 2010!!!
ReplyDelete@bobgott, I was also wondering what to use, but my bigger issue was that I couldn't use google desktop search on LAN.
ReplyDeleteSo I started development of something that would do this: tiefy.com
Still in beta, but I use it for my docs in dropbox and its working fine.
It is a shame that GOOGLE did not leave it as an option. It would take up minimal space on their server and if it continued to be downloaded it would demonstrate a need. Thus a commercial opportunity.
ReplyDeleteThe Computer is gradually being replaced with the Communicator--becoming toys for talking. The Cloudsters will eventually capitalize on the cultural mindset and rationalize cost savings by eliminating services. After all, do people really need search for their conversations; most of which is just frivolous dialog and incessant yammering.
ReplyDeleteThere's still Copernic, ISYS, Yahoo/X1, among others:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines#Desktop_search_engines
That's too bad. It's saved my bacon many times at work.
ReplyDeleteI've used it for years, and I hate to see it go!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone still have a recent copy of the installation files? I never saved it when rebuilding systems because I always knew I could just download the latest copy! AFAIK it will still work despite being unsupported.
ReplyDeleteUh oh. My Google Desktop search stopped working this morning, and I am just realizing it's discontinued and unsupported.
ReplyDeleteTime to find a replacement. This reminds me Alta Vista's acquisition of the uunet nntp search index, and its subsequent shutdown. Fortunately Google resuscitated it as part of Google Groups.
I'm sorry mine and the other millions of desktops that are and will remain on XP for years are no longer a business interest. This is going to cause a major crimp in style for me when I go searching for files and emails looking for server settings I haven't accessed in years.
I am happy to use Google's products and endure online advertising as long as the transaction yielded benefits. That balance seems to have shifted. Good, evil, or somewhere in between?
A bit late but as with above, I have only just found that google desktop (gd) search/sidebar is no longer continued. This is unbelievable. Windows search is nothing like gd which indexes ALL files and contents of files - even my gmail which is a god-send (as the search in actual gmail doesn't display half the results of gd.
ReplyDeleteMy search has also seemed to have stopped working and this is frustrating as there is no replacement which will work in the same way and index as thoroughly (or do gmail).
Oh, and with the comment from Google saying "Google Desktop doesn't index web history in Google Chrome...". What's that about? gd (used to) indexes my Chrome history very well.
I will obviously have to find a substitute now as windows search just doesn't cut it - why google (a search engine) would think that microsoft can do a good enough job with a search facility I don't know. I'm just waiting for microsoft to merge the desktop search with bing and I'll be moving.
I just reinstalled XP on my grans laptop
ReplyDeletenow she will never know how to find any files because i just found out about google desktop has gone..
XP Windows search is crap..
and my gran cant afford a new laptop or even use windows 7...
Google.. you just lost a whole load of users.
Nearly every computer i've fixed, especially for xp users, all ask for google desktop to be installed as its FAST and WORKS FINE!
Google now just sucks... you made thousands struggle to find missing files... especially people like my gran.. who cant even find the my documents folder!
.... Here comes the 6 times a day 1 hour long phone calls thanks to this
like so may others always wnts u to update onto something that we are not ucostomed to google has let me down i was so satisfied with the old desktop all of a sudden the become politions ,always gives us things what they want,and not what we wantif poeple we are happy with what we got so be it if others want to update let them update.
ReplyDeleteI have written gadgets for my customers to monitor their web sites. Windows 7 messed up with the sidebar because they decided not to make it "always on top", the work-a-round was to install Vista sidebar, but this caused two of my machines to lock up. So I switched to GD and it is excellent, I use the search as well and that is good. I don't like the idea of re-writing my gadgets again for whatever win8 has to offer, but that is my only option at the moment. Rts.
ReplyDeleteGDS was gr8 tool for a PC having many files & which needs to be retrieved. I ask Google Team to please support GDS & reintroduce it with a bang.
ReplyDeleteGoogle, you say the code was difficult to maintain, well there are tens of thousands of developers around the planet that could not only maintain, but further develop GDS into the Microsoft beating local search solution it deserves to be.
ReplyDeleteSAAS is only one part of our computing lives, we still have our own hard drives to search, so please, release the code and let GDS live.
hey, I'm still here and still using Google Desktop, and still think it's essential, especially if you have Outlook or Any Microsoft Product for that matter. In my opinion Microsoft still does not have "a powerful desktop search engine".... desktop is still much faster
ReplyDeleteReally a shame this is no longer supported or for that matter no longer available for download.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the reason this is no longer available has anything to do with microsoft searching functionality as we all know it simply does not work, but i think it has more to do with the fact that google has no financial interests in data which they cannot mine, e.g. in your machine.
Google business module is all cloud based, where they can mine the data and make money from your data, so there is no room for great desktop apps like google desktop.
I do think if they made it open source that some developers out there could revive it.
I too am a user who was saved by Google Destop! I have since bought a new laptop and need to transfer the index so that i can access it from my new lappy! Does anyone know if you can export Google desktop timeline into Google doc or to a cloud facility?
ReplyDeleteHmm, i am going to miss Google Deckstop too, it save my job a lot easier. Now i just got a new computer and lost that life saver.
ReplyDeleteIt was bad enough Google discontinued Google Desktop. Now they have disabled it as well. When I started up my computer I got an error message about the Google Desktop database being missing or something like that. It is gone. Gone. Gone. Google reached down from the cloud like God and snatched its progeny from my desktop. As if they have the right to reach into my PC and mess with it.
ReplyDeleteBad Google. Bad, bad Google.
In this day and age Google Desktop has saved my life more times than that abomination called Win 7 search...
ReplyDeletePredictions clearly are not your strong suit.
ReplyDeleteWhy? It has been discontinued since then.
Deletebring back google desktop for outlook email - whyyyy discontinue such a cool app
ReplyDeletebring back google desktop for outlook sucha value tool. Windows search sucks - so slow and crap
ReplyDeleteSad News..
ReplyDeleteInfoBulb : Knowledge Is Supreme