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GMDesk is an Adobe AIR application that puts all the Google services like Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Maps, Reader and Picasa Web Albums in one window. It doesn’t change or add to the features of these applications, but instead it works like a stand alone browser without any controls, with access to only these services.
Along with these services, if you’re a user of Google Apps, you can set up your domain in the preferences for access. You can also change your default startup service to any of the above mentioned ones.
There’s an issue with the rendering of Gmail in GMDesk as the font is very small, such that you’re bound to strain your eyes while looking at it. Although there is a workaround available on the website for this. Also, you can only access one service at a time, as there is no tabs functionality. I couldn’t find any keyboard shortcuts either for GMDesk on it’s website, which are touted as a feature.
GMDesk is a lot like Prism, or the new Safari 4 feature of save as web application. Even Chrome can help you create application shortcuts to make such one click shortcuts to Google Services. GMDesk just makes it easy to set it up, but with it you’re just stuck to one window at a time. And being a regular user of many Google Services such as Gmail, Reader, Maps and Google Apps, such an approach doesn’t please many users. You can access multiple services simultaneously if you use a browser though. And with the arrival of Google Chrome, which loads up Google’s own websites and services considerably faster ( as well as every other website ), it’s recommended to use Chrome to create application shortcuts to any Google Service that you regularly use.
Although the idea is not bad to make a suite of Google services, the execution isn’t good enough to attract users. I, for one, fail to find any reason to leave Chrome applications and shift to GMDesk. But if you don’t use Chrome, Mozilla Prism or Safari Web Applications for any reason, than GMDesk might just be for you.
