Google has released a beta of its Google Desktop software for Linux, allowing users to search for text inside documents, email messages and Gmail accounts. 

The Linux software does not, however, offer the sidebar and gadgets that are available in the versions for Windows and Mac OS X.

"We focused most of our efforts on desktop search. Gadgets and sidebar are not supported, but will probably be added in the future," a Google spokesperson told vnunet.com.

Gadgets are small applications that reside on the sidebar. They can update the user on news headlines and new email messages, or gauge the system's memory and CPU usage.

The new software supports Debian 4.0, Fedora Core 6, Mandriva, Ubuntu 6.10, SuSE 10.1 and Red Hat 5.

Google Desktop joins Picasa, Google Earth and the Google Toolbar for Firefox on the Linux platform.

But whereas Picasa relies on the Wine Windows emulation technology to run the platform, the Linux version of the search software has been designed from the ground up.

Google could not provide a projected release date for the final version of the software. The firm wants to gather user feedback and ensure that the software meets all quality demands before a 1.0 version is released.