Google to launch Mac version of Google Desktop?

If you've been reading Ars for long enough to recall posts like this, then you will probably believe me when I tell you that I've seriously considered spending the money to fix my broken PC just to run Google Desktop. I've been obsessed with the idea of organizing my massive email archives for some time now, and Desktop looks like just the ticket. Now, however, it looks like I can spend that cash on a PowerBook memory upgrade instead:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to release a version of its desktop search tool for computers running on the Mac operating system from Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said on Friday.

Schmidt did not set a timetable for a Mac version of Google Desktop, saying it had to be rebuilt from the ground up because of the fundamental differences between the Mac OS and Windows. "We intend to do it," Schmidt said at a University of California-Los Angeles conference commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Internet.

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This just rocks, and it can't get here soon enough. I'm not a big fan of Panther's search features, and I'm betting that Google could do some really neat things with Apple's planned filesystem improvements. The question now is, can a Linux version be far behind?

Update: Tim O'Reilly was at the same talk as the Reuter's reporter who wrote the above story, and in fact Tim was the person who asked the question about the Mac version of Google Desktop. Tim posted the following clarification in the discussion thread attached to this post.

This is Tim O'Reilly. I'm the one who asked Eric the question at his talk about whether we'd expect a Mac version of Google desktop, and I have to say I didn't read his response at all the way the Reuters reporter did! He was fairly equivocal, saying that it was a hard problem, requiring a whole separate project, not just a port, because of the differences in the operating systems. He made no announcement of actual plans to deliver the product, or even that Google was actively working on it.

So, there you go. It appears that we may have gotten our hopes up a bit too early. I still think it's a good idea, and I hope that Google decides to go forward with it.