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Google Desktop out of beta

Announcement
November 3, 2005

After extensive tire-kicking and test-driving, we’re happy to announce that Google Desktop 2 is coming out of beta with a number of enhancements, new third-party panels, and expanded plug-in development options. Google Desktop is a free downloadable application that combines desktop search with an intelligent sidebar that learns the user’s habits and interests to offer all the information of interest to them in one convenient location.

And, for those of you who spend most of your waking lives at work, you’ll be glad to know that Google Desktop for Enterprise is having a little coming out party of its own! In conjunction with the Google Search Appliance and Mini, Google Desktop for Enterprise delivers one-stop searching across the desktop, intranet and the web.

The daily grind might be hard, but finding-the-proposal-that-you-vaguely-remember-e-mailing-that-guy-in-London-six-weeks-ago, is easy. Just part of our continued commitment to give our users the power of Google at the office.

Product additions include:

  • Personalized Maps Panel – This new Sidebar panel rotates through maps relevant to the user’s location and interests. Like most features in the Sidebar, the panel is auto personalized and does not require input from the user unless they’d like to customize the display. In addition to maps based on the user’s activity and location, the map rotation also includes maps of popular locations around the world such as Paris, Hong Kong, and Cairo.
  • Enhanced API – New support for script based plug-ins makes developing panels for Sidebar much easier. Now developers and non-developers alike can use simple JavaScript to write powerful plug-ins with great results. Additional details on the updated Google Desktop API are available at desktop.google.com/developer.html.
  • New Third-Party Plug-ins – Dozens of new Sidebar panels have been developed using the Google Desktop API. A few notable examples include panels for iTunes and Winamp, a dictionary, and an American Express panel to track and view credit card transactions in real time.
  • Enterprise Features – Google Desktop for Enterprise provides enhanced administration, integration and security features for business environments. Through a collaborative effort between Google and IBM, this release also offers improved search across IBM Lotus Notes messages.

The Google Desktop team is also launching a new blog today for user and developers to find out the latest information about Google Desktop. Check it out at googledesktop.blogspot.com.

Google Desktop and Google Desktop for Enterprise are both free and can be found at desktop.google.com and desktop.google.com/enterprise/, respectively.

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