Google Gadgets go cross-platform
Google is adding support for Google Gadgets in its Google Desktop for the Mac software. Google Gadgets, as you probably know, are mini applications with dynamic content that offer quick access for things like newsfeeds and to-do lists.
Mac users can now run Google Gadgets side by side with Apple Widgets in Dashboard and have the same gadgets on their Mac, iGoogle page, and Google Desktop Sidebar.
Some cross-platform Gadgets include: YouTube, which lets you search and watch YouTube videos from Dashboard; Virtual Flower Pot, where you water it and watch flowers bloom; and Weather Globe, which displays weather conditions inside a 3D glass sphere.
"For users, this means they can install hundreds of Google Gadgets with just one click and run them in Dashboard. They can also use Gadgets to enhance their personal Web sites by copying and pasting the HTML into the page's source code," Google says.
And now developers can create one set of gadgets that will work on both PC and Mac platforms.
Update 11:15 a.m.: Although the launch was scheduled for Wednesday, Google has delayed it until Thursday, for some reason.
Google Desktop for the Mac now includes support for Google Gadgets.
(Credit: Google)
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor. 
- Psst...what about Linux?
- by vhannon November 28, 2007 9:51 AM PST
- I'd like to think we're at the point where cross-platform means more than the Mac. Perhaps the appropriate headline would be 'Google Gadgets On Second Platform' or some such. I expect more from a tech news org.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
-
- what about Linux?
- by daftkey November 28, 2007 12:27 PM PST
- I'd like to think that "Cross-platform" is a pretty common term that means exactly what Google and C-Net have written it to mean in this article.
- Like this
-
- Google comment on Linux
- by elinormills November 28, 2007 2:36 PM PST
- I asked Google for comment and here is an e-mail response:
- Like this
-
(3 Comments)Linux still needs to grow up a bit more before it will be relevant enough for Linux support to be a requirement to call something "cross-platform".
"In regards to Linux, Google continues to be very committed to Linux as evidenced by our launch of Google Desktop for Linux in June and the 1.1 upgrade in October. We are looking forward to adding more features but have nothing to announce at this time."