Google has released Google Desktop 5.8 software for Windows, with a focus on speed that improves the memory usage during startup, has a faster shutdown and detects the gadgets that slow down your computer. “To reduce memory usage, increase stability and reduce memory fragmentation, we reduced the number of different processes that Google Desktop runs, and we now recycle some of our processes frequently, reports Google blog.”

The software indexes a computer's files so users can search their machines and provides a mechanism to house small applications called widgets, but Google heard gripes that Google Desktop was too big and slow. "We heard the message loud and clear and decided that the Google Desktop 5.8 for Windows release would be based entirely on performance," Jói Sigurðsson, Google Desktop tech lead, said in a blog post Monday.

Enable additional features by using Google Desktop's index:

• Backup and view previous versions of your documents
• Search your web history, Gmail, and more
• View thumbnail previews of your images, videos, and web history

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