Google has recently opened its social networking service Google+ to the public. You no longer require any invites to join Google+. If you have a Google account, then you can have your own Google+ account as well. After you have used your Google+ account in your web browser, you may want to integrate it with Windows to have the messages and notifications delivered right to your desktop. The G+ Notifier is such a free program that can help you achieve just that. G+ Notifier is a Windows utility that sits in the notification area and alerts you to notifications in the Google+ social network.
G+ Notifier is programmed in the Microsoft .NET 4 framework and thus requires .NET 4 framework to be installed in Windows. If you have not already installed .NET 4, then you can download it from www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=17718
You can download G+ Notifier from http://gplusnotifier.com/. The download is available both as an installable setup program and as a standalone portable program. If you choose to install the G+ Notifier, then it would automatically run after the installation. If you choose the portable edition, then unzip the contents of the downloaded ZIP archive and run DanTup.GPlusNotifier.exe to start the G+ Notifier.
First time you run G+ Notifier, you would be shown options to automatically update to newer versions and to open G+ in browser or in notification window. You can choose as you please, but it is recommended that you keep them at the default settings.
Next, you are shown the usual Google login page inside the G+ Notifier window. Type in your Google account credentials to login to Google+ account. After logging in, close the login window. You would see the G+ Notifier icon in the notification area showing the number of unread notifications you have on your Google+ account.
You can click on this notification area icon to open the Google+ notifications window which would list all the new notifications. The interface used by G+ Notifier looks similar to using Google+ on your smartphone.
If you want, you can log out from the Google+ account in the G+ Notifier using its notification area icon. Just right-click on it and choose Logout. You can also close the G+ Notifier by selecting the Exit from this menu.
The G+ Notifier is an open source project and the source code is available from its web site. According to the G+ Notifier developers, it does not attempt to capture your details or post anything to your account without your knowledge – meaning that G+ Notifier is secure and you can trust it with your credentials. So if you want the Google+ notification delievered right to your Windows desktop, then look no further than the free G+ Notifier.