Little By Little, Google Docs Gets More Office Like

Trackbacks/Pings (Trackback URL)

1. Chris
   

   March 26th, 2008 at 7:21 pm

   what’s this “microsoft office” you speak of???

2. Jcyreus
   

   March 26th, 2008 at 7:26 pm

   What’s kewl about this in terms of strategic positioning on behalf of Google is that young people who haven’t entered the job market yet and had the “local application” dependency engrained into their minds are picking up on things like this. Their mindset is going to be such that having all doc copies and applications in local form on their HDD is not only an inconvenience, but a risky proposition should their computer be stolen or destroyed w/o having a remote backup copy to retrieve.

3. Mcneri
   

   March 26th, 2008 at 7:27 pm

   The divide between the traditional desktop and a virtual office is closing up. Google will always encroach on market share of other corporations, take them over if possible or provide a superior service (cf YAHOO and HOTMAIL in the late 90s). Thumbs up for them even though I will always rant about their deceitful tactics especially with things like Google Grants and Google search. For those that can not afford ANY version of MS Office, Star Office by Suns (a derivative of Open Office) is downloadable free and also converts word-like documents to PDF. Let us watch this space and see how far Google can go with this.

4. mathew
   

   March 26th, 2008 at 7:29 pm

   One day they’ll implement paragraph spacing, and you’ll actually be able to use it as a word processor.

5. Mystery CEO
   

   March 26th, 2008 at 7:30 pm

   Google Docs has become absolutely vital to our business - we run a virtual team and between using Basecamp and Google Docs, we’re completely connected.

   I’m even 100% addicted to the calendar now - especially since it integrates so well with the Blackberry…

   Mystery CEO

6. YDRIVE
   

   March 26th, 2008 at 7:39 pm

   Presumably UI can be copied, can’t it?

7. 符碼印象
   

   March 26th, 2008 at 7:43 pm

   Wow, looks like the Google Docs service is getting popular in our daily business.

8. Vantrix
   

   March 26th, 2008 at 7:44 pm

   Is is not that Microsoft reached the pole first ages ago and rest all are now trying the same path to reach there( Google included)…

   Vantrix
   (http://www.vantrix.net)

9. Michael Kimsal
   

   March 26th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

   Maybe they’re trying to be more like OpenOffice instead of MS Office. MS Office currently has the whole ribbon bar thing, and whether you like it or not, OpenOffice doesn’t have it. Google’s looking more like OpenOffice than MS Office these days.

10. Jeff S.
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

    I wish google docs would have a page view with headers and footers. Zoho.com has the right idea, but I want Google to control my email, internet searches, desktop, blog, online purchases, videos, AND important documents.

11. Ralf
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 8:21 pm

    Mystery CEO, what’s revenue of your company? Let guess. You have none.
    Kids wake up. Google docs is of no value for real companies.
    Ever heard of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, ability to screen read for blind, digital document signatures, vast array of copy & paste from hundreds of different document formats. Ever tried to do anything only slightly more complicated? Ever tried to edit a document larger than 50 pages? It’s kids stuff, nothing for pros.

12. Duncan Riley
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 8:39 pm

    YDRIVE #6
    I cant remember the case (there’s US legal precedent), but yes, UI in this case can be copied.

13. P. Wineberg
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 8:39 pm

    Hey Dunckie….Big Mike must have taken the lash to you, mate. You’re pumping out more than the usual superficial bilge. This post takes the cake. Wow, all of two paragraphs of bilge. C’mon, give us some news. Otherwise, go outside and have a smoke. LOL

14. Henry Khachatryan
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 8:45 pm

    Personally, besides just being a convinient means to keep multiple people updated on a project (by sharing a document), I don’t see myself leaving Microsoft Office, which I have no problems with. Why is everyone so excited about Google getting closer to becoming a “office clone” when you can just use office instead. I understand Docs is free and MS Office isn’t, but still, I rather pay a little bit and have a product with a decade of history and the definitive standard in the market.

    Henry
    http://www.collegmogul.com

15. cyhsu
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    We also use Basecamp and Goole Docs for bug/issue tracking.

16. Jeremy
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 8:58 pm

    Too many Google fanboys. No privacy at all. They will find a way to monetize this eventually and maintain all info.

    http://www.lockboxmail.com

17. Gorboonet Beram
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    I use Google Docs to wipe my butt.

    Pee-on companies will use it but once real money starts getting sloshed around Google Docs is no longer a viable option. What big company wants people creating, storing, and sharing documents containing IP online?

    Crazy ones that’s who

18. YDRIVE
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    @DR #12.. hmm, enlightening… i thought there’s sth called trade dress…

19. YDRIVE
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 9:37 pm

    or perhaps likely because such UI/GUI in this case isn’t a “nonfunctional” characteristic for legal protection… thus trade dress isn’t applicable… hmm.

20. NickeyD
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 10:07 pm

    Wow, Google Doc’s UI design team get paid for this ? Nice to have some really smart MBA’s in your office.

21. Abel
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 10:11 pm

    Zoho is far superior to Google Docs. It feels most like you’re actually using an application, rather than something in the browser.

22. Rewardless
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 10:17 pm

    Somebody help me understand this.

    Microsoft has thousands upon thousands of patents. There’s a frickin’ full time librarian group at Microsoft that exists purely to CATALOG their patents for easy reference.

    Lots of these patents are inherent in the design of word processing, spreadsheet, powerpoint / etc functionality.

    So when does the Google “let’s just copy this stuff” free ride end? When MSFT actually feels threatened if they start installing a true desktop package or pro grade functionality?

23. Ryan Scott
    

    March 26th, 2008 at 10:47 pm

    i know dozens of companies using just google docs, calendar, gmail. no IT staff. no support issues. no windows, either, they use mac, because it all just works. no they are not 500 person companies, but *most companies are not*

    yeah its not perfect and its not a powerhouse, but it gets the job done 99.9% of the time and if you cannot see the trend, you are deluding yourself. and probably running a competitive company.

    i haven’t lost any mail yet (can’t say that about outlook), my computer boots nearly instantly (can’t say that about outlook OR pc), I haven’t lost my *contacts* - but I can thank outlook for losing those for me several times. I can share documents for real, can’t really say that about windows. w google, every computer i go to has my docs on it… basic, basic stuff which i’m crippled without. going back to office tied to pc would be like poking out my eyes and tying my hands behind my back.

24. advertboy
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 12:22 am

    the companies and people that matter will never use google docs BECAUSE OF SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE!

    If you use google docs to do business and store and client information then chances are YOUR DOING SOMETHING VERY BAD AND ILLEGAL!

    Im not going to waste my time explaining why you shouldn’t be doing that! If you’ve gone off and started using Google docs then you should of done your due dilligence and gotten lawyers to verify if you are indeed allowed to use it for your business purposes!

    Good luck to those that do use it!

25. Jona
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 1:03 am

    I’ve always liked the idea of google docs, but for the most part I want to be able to work offline. Even when I’m connected it is faster to get into.

    Hopefully when they finally add gears integration I will be able to use the one application online and offline - and never have to know the difference.

26. Ajay
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 2:04 am

    i have also write some thing about these google docs new features.
    visit my website also.

    http://readerszone.com/2008/03.....ogle-docs/

27. Marcus
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 2:42 am

    Reply to #24… You are assuming that Google doesn’t offer security features, or WILL not offer more robust security features in the future.

    What you are also assuming is that having a bunch of networked computers, all of which can be compromised by a single individual, is somehow a less serious security risk than having a single core source which is reviewable by everyone… and including any edits that may occur (As Google stores revisions).

    I personally think that a centralized source that is accessible only to those with clearance is far preferable to a decentralized source.

    It is all in how Google decides to implement if they get to the point of needing to worry more about large corporate markets. Trust me, I think they can handle that task when it comes to it.

28. Simon
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 3:35 am

    So many people seem to be jumping the gun. No ones said ditch MS Office altogether. Google Docs fills a need - a need to create all those little docs & spreadsheets you create to keep notes. One of the posters above said it was used by a few teams in the company.

    For contracts, important docs, you can still use MS Office/OpenOffice. No one has Google Docs is enterprise ready NOW. In a few years time maybe, but we’ll have to see what they offer. For 5-10 people company, MS Office is likely to cost anywhere from £500 - £3000. Compare against Google which gives you backups and data security for free, looks like a good deal to me.

    Don’t forget you can always export as pdf, which for archive/compliance/etc is a better format.

29. panefsky
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 4:56 am

    MS Office should be cheaper. That’s for sure.
    However anything else seems like a toy to me.

30. Rajiv Singh
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 5:17 am

    Using Google Docs makes US government have an easy look into your documents.

31. rvb
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 6:06 am

    to think that cloud apps will NEVER be used in an enterprise setting is poor thinking.

    20 years ago who’da thunk we’d give employees laptops to run around with our “secure” data? Probably nobody.

    Somehow this will all get worked out…think about it, Google’s not going to steal your data - they’ll be lawsuited into bankruptcy, and fast.

    The bigger question is how will they police the cloud / keep hackers away. I guess in some ways that’s not different from keeping some corporate spy away from your dumpster (oracle) or stealing a CEO’s laptop in some way. Crooks will still exist.

    The cloud can deliver productivity, and that’s why it will eventually become the standard. But we don’t know what the rules will be, I s’pose.

    But, it probably won’t happen as quickly as the big proponents think, either.

32. Mystery CEO
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 6:21 am

    Ralf, don’t get smart - we don’t use Google Docs for 50+ page reports, those are not really things I want in my Google account anyways…

    We use it more for quick notes, brain dumps and some excel files where we’re tracking project management.

    Get some rest, you seem a bit cranky.

33. Shams
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 6:51 am

    Looks really very good.

34. magixman
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 9:05 am

    Google Docs may not be the ultimate MS Office solution because they need to have the data on their servers which is a non-starter for many companies. Cloud computing, however, is here to stay and Google is helping to demonstrate how valuable browser-based software is when it comes to collaboration, sharing and ubiquitous access.

    I think that the first company to come up with a serious solution that can either be bought as a service (their computers) or run as software (your computers) and can operate seamlessly between the two data repositories will ultimately prevail.

    Maybe Google will eventually sell office appliance servers the way they do search appliance servers. Still I don’t think Google has decided whether they really want to compete in this space or just simply want influence things and loosen the grips of Microsoft to open things up a bit.

35. CG
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 9:55 am

    I’m bullish on gdocs, especially for collaborative projects. For me, gdocs has just hit a sweetspot of having a fairly full featureset, reliability, and still remaining lightweight/easy.

    I think that the increasingly deeper integration with google gadgets opens up some neat possibilities for representing and relating documents, displaying data, etc.

    I echo the sentiment in these comments stating that productivity of the team is the ultimate judge of whether these tools are valuable.

36. Zach Weisman
    

    March 27th, 2008 at 11:42 am

    Duncan I think you mean “more and more Office 97 like.”

37. James Brown
    

    March 28th, 2008 at 10:35 am

    Agree with #20 and #36.

    Google is doing this “no doubt .. to make the service more familiar to Microsoft Office users?”

    Or is it just because their engineers are increasingly lacking any design imagination?