According to a Reuters story, Google CEO Eric Schmidt confirmed on Friday that the company intends to build a Mac version of Google Desktop, which enables users to search their e-mail messages, files, Web browser histories, chat logs and more. He admitted, however, that such an undertaking will require the Mac version to be “rebuilt from the ground up” because of the “fundamental differences” between Mac OS X and Windows. No timetable was set for its release. The Windows version was published earlier this month.
Privacy advocates have voiced concerns over Google Desktop, saying that its ability to search personal information is a potential liability, but Schmidt sought to allay those fears. “We will be very sensitive about personal information for obvious reasons,” he said during his remarks at a University of California Los Angeles conference observing the 35th anniversary of the Internet’s birth.