Get Google Desktop to Support Firefox
Google recently released Google Desktop (for Windows users), as you are probably already aware. Google Desktop is a "desktop search application that provides full text search over your email, computer files, chats, and the web pages you've viewed."
Great!
The hang-up: the program searches web data — e.g. cached pages and bookmarks — in only one browser, Internet Explorer.
Where you come in: Google has provided a feature request form and specifically the option to request support for Mozilla Firefox. Get to submitting. And if you have another minute of time to spare, offer Mozilla Thunderbird as an additional request in the "Suggestion" text box.
Pinder, does this entry qualify as a spin-off to the Google Browser trilogy?
Update: A F.A.Q. entry has been created by Google Desktop — possibly in response to many directed questions — with information on the current status of compatibilty between the browser and the search application.
Comments
The only problem is that Mozilla's storage will be changing. I'll be writing the parser to transfer the data from crappy mork db to a nicer unified sqlite db.
Links:
http://hope.homedns.org/capstone/mozStorage_Migration_Plan.html
http://wiki.mozilla.org/Mozilla2.0?UnifiedStorage
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=261861
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=241438
Erm, Google Desktop works in Firefox. Perfectly. I was actually impressed at just how well it did.
I think the problem lies in the search tool not going through folks' email or browsing history like it will with IE or Outlook.
It works in Firefox (at least on my PC). I don't know what kind of problems other people are having. :/
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; rv:1.7.3) Gecko/20041001 Firefox/0.10.1
What he means is the history OF Firefox, not viewing it THROUGH Firefox :). It caches only Internet Explorer (sorry, I don't normally cuss) History pages as of yet.
Sometimes people don't read -- even a couple of times. ;-)
Hey there is an extension for Firefox, Ken Schutte's Slogger, that saves your viewed pages. Once the pages are saved, then any indexer can be used -- including Google Desktop.
http://www.kenschutte.com/firefoxext/
why is the save page as feature not standard like IE?
It would also be nice to have support for indexing OpenOffice.org documents.
I agree with huckfinn, you should also the people to add a request for OpenOffice/StarOffice in the suggestion entry.
Eric, I believe you meant to agree with huckfinn. To the both of you: I'd like to see more open source supported by Google Desktop. This post is Mozilla specific though, and there are so many great open source programs available; where would I draw the line on which ones to call out support for?
Why stop at getting Google Desktop support for Firefox . . .
why not the Mozilla Application Suite and Thunderbird too?
DJGM, I did request that folks ask for Thunderbird support (re-read the second-to-last paragraph).
Support for the Mozilla Application Suite is subject to debate. I, for one, would like to see support for everything-Mozilla. Firefox and Thunderbird are getting the most attention, though, and I suspect Google will target both applications, as a result, first.
The response I got back from Google:
Thank you for your note. Google Desktop Search is only partially compatible with Mozilla and Mozilla Firefox. Desktop Search does not currently support Thunderbird.
How Desktop Search works with Mozilla and/or Mozilla Firefox:
If you install Desktop Search and open a Mozilla or Firefox browser window, you'll see a 'Desktop' link appear on the Google homepage. You can click this link to go to the Desktop Search homepage whenever you want to search with Desktop Search.
Webpages that you view in Mozilla and/or Firefox aren't added to your Desktop Search index, however, so you won't be able to find them with Desktop Search.
We realize that many of our users use Mozilla or Firefox as their primary browser and Thunderbird as their email program. We may consider adding increased Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, and Thunderbird support in a future version of Desktop Search.
Regards,
The Google Team
We built the GDS as a search engine in our Firefox toolbar.
If you have GDS installed, you can search your desktop, GMail, all of the Google engines and even add your own engines.
http://www.firefoxtoolbar.com/google
Feedback on the bar would be awesome.
thx
-Pat
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