Gemini for Windows launches without Google's Spark agent

Google released the Gemini app for Windows on Thursday, about five months after the macOS version. Alt + Space opens a chat window on top of whatever application is in front. The app is available worldwide and the download is free. The launch post also advertises features that never reach a Windows PC.

What the Windows version does

Google's help page for Windows says the app can answer questions, draft text, summarize articles and documents, brainstorm, help with code and analyze uploaded images. The requirements are Windows 10 or later, 8 GB of RAM, 200 MB of free disk space and a Google account. The installer is called GeminiSetup.exe and is available at gemini.google/desktop. You can change the shortcut in settings, and the icon then appears in the taskbar and the notification area.

Spark is in the ad copy, not in Europe

The launch post says you can hand off multi-step tasks to Gemini Spark, described as a "24/7 personal AI agent". A footnote marker follows the name, and the footnote reads "Google AI subscription required. Availability varies. 18+." Google's help page is blunter. Spark is available "wherever Gemini Apps are supported, except in the European Economic Area, Nigeria, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom".

The same page adds a second limit. Spark runs "only in the Gemini mobile app, the Gemini app on Mac, and the Gemini web app at gemini.google.com". The Windows app is missing from that list a day after launch. Anyone who wants Spark also needs a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription, a personal Google account, an age of 18 or older and Keep Activity switched on. We looked at what Google does with that activity and how long deleted chats survive last week.

The Mac version has three extras

Google's help page for the Mac app describes window sharing with Gemini and microphone dictation. It also describes a mode called voice in window, where Gemini reads the content of the selected window and writes its answer straight back into it. That mode works in English only and Google is releasing it gradually. None of the three appear on the Windows page, and Google says more native desktop features are coming over time.

Who should download it

What you get is a chat window that opens faster than a browser tab, reaches Gmail, Drive, Docs and Calendar, and creates images with Nano Banana. Daily Gemini users save a few steps. Anyone hoping for the agent waits longer, the same way they did for the new daily limits in Gemini Notebook. Gemini is also absent from the car right now, where five other AI assistants share the space in CarPlay.