In the recent Desktop Architect Meeting 4 (DAM 4), Google gave enough hints about their plans on releasing more apps for Linux. Google has already made its Google Picasa software and Google Earth available for Linux users. Even though Google was not explicit about their forthcoming Linux apps, we could speculate on various possibilities.

Here I will offer my list of speculations

• A major upgrade to Picasa is on cards. The current Linux version is not in sync with its Windows counterpart. They might be offering a major upgrade to their Linux client
• Release a Linux client for their Google Desktop software
• Release a Linux client for their Sketchup software
• Release a Linux client for their Gtalk software. But, I am not sure why they would do it unless they want to offer voice capabilities on Linux. Already you can use any Jabber client to log into your Gtalk account and chat with your friends. Unless Google decides to go big on VOIP, I don’t see any reason why they would release a Linux client for Gtalk

In their slides, they have mentioned that some of the apps will be released as Open Source. This really caught my attention. Does it mean that Google is going to develop apps exclusively for Linux and release it under an open source license? What do you think?

Update: Google Desktop is now available for Linux. You can get it here.