Google Docs Review Discussion

By: Greg Ross

Google Docs is the search giant's Web-based answer to Microsoft Office, stripped down to bare essentials but with some intriguing sharing features built in. Is less really more, or are the free-to-anybody Google Docs worth what you pay for them? Read our full review to find out.

Read the full content of this Article: Google Docs Review

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There was an interesting article in the New York Times a while back about how times being as they are, a lot more companies are switching to or considering Google Docs and how Microsoft was taking note as Office generates $18 billion in revenue and $12 billion in profit. I can't find it now of course. Me, I'll be sticking with OpenOffice. Office is too expensive for the little I use it and I prefer to stick with something that isn't trying to collect data about me. It always surprises me more people/companies don't use OpenOffice as it's free and most people use about 10% of Office. Nice review.

 

MS is playing catch up and offering parts of Office 2010 for free to all Windows Live account holders: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/microsoft-office-2010-starts-ascension-to-the-cloud/

What'll be really interesting is how Google responds then when it'll actually have serious competition for the free online productivity app market.

 

I haven't read the entire review, but it should be noted that the con listed as "requires net access" is not actually true. If you install Gears (formerly Google Gears) on your machine, you can enjoy offline file access and modification. Yep -- you read that right, offline. Crazy voodoo, I know.

http://gears.google.com

}:^)~

 

I should clarify that Gears allows *viewing* of all documents offline, but at the present moment it seems that only Document editing can be done offline. This means that you cannot edit presentations or spreadsheets while offline.

Still, not bad. I hope they improve this functionality, as Google Docs is a fine solution to office-suite bloat, vendor lock-in, and local-access-only files.

}:^)~

 

Is this the NYTIMES article?

 

Needs custom font support stat...

 

Actually, it was the US Today.

 

There is one downfall of Google Docs that I experienced with a group of six:

You cannot have multiple people editing a document at the same time. You run the risk of losing your work when it auto saves because it will save from one user's computer but the next person won't get that update.

Other than that unique situation Google Docs is excellent for group projects.

 

The biggest issue I have with google docs is it's only on line... There are many times when I don't have access to the internet and need to work on my homework... with google docs I'm toast.

 

i used this to do a proposal in a group project for school last week

works decently well. its a great idea with tons of potential. lets hope google doesnt screw the pooch with terrible addons and updates

 

I'm a big fan of Google docs and use it all the time, but only if it doesn't matter what the finished product looks like. The printed page with Google Docs, especially with a spreadsheet, looks terrible. It really doesn't even come close to Office (either Microsoft or Open) when it comes to producing professional looking documents.

 

I use google docs mainly so that I can easily access partially completed homework files to school and back (so I dont have to bring my flash key). Other than that, Office beats it in almost every other category. Browser technology has a long way to go before it surpasses applications. The AJAX WYSIWYG interface just doesn't cut it for me. I think that the main problem with web applications that are meant to replace desktop apps is the limitation of the technologies available, specifically when it comes to the UI.

 

So true.

I love Google Apps. xD

 

I think it is obvious that Google Apps is great for the casual user. However, professionals should still stick with Office for the features and 100% compatibility with other users.