Gmail delivered to desktops

You’ve got Gmail. Subscribers of Google’s free e-mail service who long for those words can now receive them faster, without logging onto the Gmail site. Google’s new Gmail Notifier, a downloadable application introduced Friday in beta, or test version, lets users receive desktop alerts when they have new unread messages. The software, for Microsoft Windows 2000 and above only, shows an icon in the PC system tray and alerts users with the subject line, sender and an excerpt of new messages.

The application does not collect or store any personal information, Google said. The company introduced Gmail in test form in April, and it has yet to be widely released.

Another nice touch to an already desirable service. Now, if only they’d let the rest of us play with it…