What the heck is growl?

[Luis Ortega]

Today. I noticed a new icon in my system preferences named "growl".
I did not install it. Can anyone please tell me what this is and how it might have gotten on my computer?
I recently installed Steam and the free Portal game and also installed the new production premium cs5 but I was never asked about growl during the installations and have never seen it in any software update options?
No one else has access to this computer, so it wasn't done by another person.
How did this get on my computer and what does it do?
And can I dump it safely?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[Hellhammer]

It is a push notification app, very popular among Mac users as various apps use it, e.g. Adium. CS5 automatically installs it so no need to worry. I wouldn't delete it, it's a great app

 

[BlueRevolution]

CS5 uses Growl? Wow, respect++.

 

[Pravda]

By keeping Growl running in the background, does this app significantly eat into the MacBooks battery?

 

[-tWv-]

By keeping Growl running in the background, does this app significantly eat into the MacBooks battery?

nope, no significant difference if any difference at all

 

[Pravda]

nope, no significant difference if any difference at all

Thank you for your response.
Good to know.