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Today Google Desktop leaves it’s beta status behind and stands as a fully fledged application. Having used the beta version for several months I’ve found it unquestionably useful. Searching for something on my machine used to be a chore; Google Desktop makes it a breeze.

The beta version was not without it’s limitations, which I previously described. I am surprised and delighted to say that these limitations appear to have been addressed with knobs on. There are several key factors in the version released today which take it head and shoulders above the beta version:

1. Google Desktop supports Mozilla Thunderbird.
   This one is critical for me because I’ve been using the mozilla mail client since 1996, and consequently have a huge email history which just became a searchable resource. Until today, only MS Outlook mail could be handled.
2. Google Desktop can be programmed - it has an API.
   Other applications not officially supported need not be excluded from the search - with an open API it won’t take long before third parties start writing search plugins for the world and his dog.
3. Google Desktop already has a plugin for Trillian.
   A good example of what the API will enable is the Trillian plugin. I use Trillian Pro for my Yahoo, AIM, MSN and IRC conversations - and being able to see chats and emails in the same search when looking up contact details for a particular person is very useful indeed.

The continuing battle for Hearts, Minds and Advertising Revenue

Google Desktop faces an interesting future. The release of an API at launch is likely to foster fast and diverse extensions which may yet give Google the dominant position in the desktop market ahead of Microsoft.

The next key territory is surely Linux; domination of both the MS and Unix desktop search would give Google access to a user base only dreamed of by the Microsoft execs. Google’s revenue model, based on advertising sales, is potentially more stable than that of Microsoft’s traditional one-off sale when you buy the computer; and it doesn’t rely on the end user making a large investment.

The prophets of doom are already (perhaps humerously) suggesting that Google will become the largest, possibly the last corporation in the world. They’ll only achieve this if they become the most useful corporation in the world. In it’s first five years Google changed the way people discover. Now, with desktop search, Google is changing the way people remember.