Google to vie with MS Office

Submitted by bleckb on October 11, 2006 - 10:56.

This morning's Wall Street Journal reports that Google's free software bundle, Google Docs and Spreadsheets, will be pitted against MS Office, and presumably Open Office among those who are not "professional users." Official word from Google should come later today. Google's offering is more limited than both MS Office and Open Office but will likely appeal to folks who simply type, spell check and otherwise make use of the more mundane offerings found in the higher powered software packages. Unlike Open Office and MS Office, Google Docs and Spreadsheets will not be downloaded to personal computers, but will work online. I'm not sure how this will work when folks are off-line and need to work. Notepad anyone?

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cel4145's picture

links

Submitted by cel4145 on October 11, 2006 - 16:50.

Here's are links to ArsTechnica's take on this and the Google Docs and Spreadsheets home page.

"I'm not sure how this will work when folks are off-line and need to work."

That's when they need OpenOffice :-)

-----
Charlie | cyberdash

platypus matt's picture

Offline

Submitted by platypus matt on October 11, 2006 - 17:02.

I'm not sure how this will work when folks are off-line and need to work. Notepad anyone?

Yes, that's my question, too. My guess is that they'll eventually offer off-line options and an automatic sync when you get online again (sort of like that google firefox bookmark doohickey). At least, that's how I'd go about it.

Check out Barton's gaming blog at Armchair Arcade.

Collaboration via Google docs?

Submitted by pz on October 12, 2006 - 07:27.

Well, this news could not have come at a better time. As director of comp. here at JMU, I am responsible for collecting and sending to the bookstore orders for freshman writing courses from all faculty (about 30 people). I have been receiving e-mails and compiling spreadsheets with ISBN numbers and such, for the last few days. Huge pain in the neck. Now, I am thinking that I can set up a spreadsheet online, invite them all to collaborate, have them fill in their informaiton, export it all as pdf, and be done. Am I crazy? I have just tried it out with 2 Google accounts, and it seems to work.

Pavel.

platypus matt's picture

Writely

Submitted by platypus matt on October 12, 2006 - 09:58.

I've used Writely to collaborate on lots of documents, and it does work very well (even easier to use in some cases than a wiki). I hadn't thought of the spreadsheet possibilities...

However, as I recall, you need to setup the permissions beforehand. That might get tedious with large groups of collaborators.

Check out Barton's gaming blog at Armchair Arcade.