The developers have now announced that they have added Google Docs to the list of services. Let me show you how you can export all of your Google Docs files now.

Visit the Google Takeout website. If you are not logged in you will be asked to sign in first before you can use the service’s functionality. The frontpage displays a list of all services that you can export data from.

You can create an archive of data from all available services, or switch to the Choose services menu to select one service that you want to export data from. Pick Docs from the menu to initiate the export of Google Docs data.

Google Takeout will now calculate the data size of the Google Docs account. Additional services can be added to the archive, and a click on configure opens a menu where you can select the file types for different document formats. It is for instance possible to download spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel, PDF or Open Spreadsheet format.

Please note that the calculation can take quite some time before you will even see progress.

Click the Create Archive button afterwards and wait until all files have been added to an archive that you can then download for a week before it automatically expires on the Google server.

Takeout is not the first service to export files from Google Docs. Check out Google Docs Adds Zip Document Export to find out how to export selected documents as a single zip document and Synchronize Google Docs documents With Local PCs for two additional options.

Insync is a new option for Mac and Windows users (and soon Linux as a Linux port is in the making) who want to synchronize their Google Docs documents with local PCs. The program uses Google’s own authentication system for authorization, which means that you do not have to supply your Google login information to use the program.

The first thing that you need to do after installation is to link machines to the service. Linked machines are the only systems that will synchronize documents with Google Docs. Linking did not work right away on a test system, a restart of the application did however resolve the issue.

A web page is opened if your run the program from a new system to link the new computer with the synchronization service. Once done, files will get synced automatically to the system whenever the app is running. Please note that you do not have options to sync selected files or folders with local machines. If you configure Insync to run on a system, everything will be synchronized.

Documents are by default stored in the Insync\Google Docs Email\ folder in the My Documents folder. It is possible to change the root document folder but not the folder name.

Any changes that you make locally to your documents will be synced with Google Docs automatically and vice versa.

The developers have hinted at the possibility to use Google Docs and Insync as a Dropbox alternative. Since it is possible to upload non-document file types to Google Docs, it is possible to use the service to host files online. The biggest advantage over Dropbox is the price for additional storage that is up to eight times cheaper.

Users who do not want to buy additional storage on the other hand get only 1 Gigabyte of free storage space, which is half of what they get when they sign up for a Dropbox account.

The Insync guide lists features that the program offers that Dropbox does not offer:

• Read/write + read only sharing permissions (on folder + file)
• File sharing (you have to share folders in Dropbox)
• Share recipients aren’t charged against their Google Docs storage quota
• Nested sharing (you know who you are!)
• Google Docs collaboration
• Leave Insync anytime and all your stuff are in your Google Docs account
• No direct access to your files (a rogue employee will have to create a program that uses the Google Docs API and steal your access credentials to get at your files)
• Insync only stores your file metadata

Some of the functionality is provided only on the Insync website and not in the client. This includes the ability to share documents among other features.

Google Docs users who want to synchronize their documents with multiple machines may find Insync quite useful for that purpose. The developers do have plans to integrate premium features at a later point in time. (via Caschy)

The next best thing is a web service that allows the creation of charts. You have the option to use a service like Google Docs or Microsoft Office Online for that, or something that is not as complicated to use.

Chart Creator is a free lightweight tool to create charts online. The program supports a total of 12 different chart types, from line and area charts to scatter, pie, map and trend charts.

A click on Editor opens the configuration menu where you can configure how the chart should look like. A click on the customize tab offers to make additional modifications to the chart. This includes the layout of the legend, the chart title, values for the axis and additional features like log scale, reverse or stack.

Once you are done with the initial configuration you can start entering data that you want displayed on the chart. The program limits you to charts with two data points, for instance countries and their population.

A click on draw draws the chart on the screen. You can then use a screen capturing software to save the chart to your local system or use the print button to print it on a connected printer.

Chart Creator offers an easy option to create simple charts online. Users who need more functionality, for instance the ability to import data into a spreadsheet need to look at services such as Google Docs to do so as that is not possible with this chart creation service. (via)

Google Docs users could make use of GoogleLookup to display data like the population of a country, the birth day of people or company employees or CEOs.

Google has created a help page that offers further information about the effect on existing spreadsheet cells making use of GoogleLookup:

As of November 2011, the GoogleLookup function will no longer be supported. This function relies on technology from Google Squared, a Google Lab that’s been deprioritized.

To save your data, copy the selection that contains GoogleLookup functions. Then, go to the Edit menu, navigate to Paste special, and select Paste values only. When the function is no longer supported, cells containing GoogleLookup functions will return #NAME? errors.

Google is not providing users with an alternative to replace GoogleLookup with other data. The Google Operating System blog has a replacement suggestion:

Here’s a way to use the ImportXML function to extract facts from Google Search (the mobile interface):

=RegExExtract(ImportXML(“http://www.google.com/m/search?q=sri+lanka+capital”, “//span[@class='waa4kx']“), “-(.*)”)

Have you been using GoogleLookup or another Google Labs technology? Let us know if you will be missing the service and if you have found a replacement for the discontinued service.

If you look at Google these days, you might have read that the company started pushing out offline modes for some of their products. The crux? Offline modes are only available for Chrome versions. Not for Firefox, not Internet Explorer, and definitely not for Opera.

You may remember that Gmail offline access was available before for both Firefox and Internet Explorer. This was made possible by Google Gears, which has been discontinued earlier this year. Some of the Gears features have made their way into the Chrome web browser though.

Gmail users who want offline access to their emails and data need to install the Offline Google Mail extension from the Chrome Web Store.

With it they can read and respond to mail, search and archive emails without network access. Gmail Offline ” will automatically synchronize messages and queued actions anytime Chrome is running and an Internet connection is available”.

To start Offline Gmail after installing, open a new tab in Chrome; In the new tab pane you will see a Gmail Offline Icon. Click on the icon, and Offline Gmail will load.

For Google Docs, it is even easier. Just click on the settings icon next to your profile picture on the Google Docs website and select “Set up Docs offline” from the context menu.

A new popup window opens up on the screen where you need to allow offline docs access. You still need to install the Docs Chrome web app in the process, but everything is handled directly from within Google Docs.

While not announced officially yet, Google will offer offline access for Google Calendar as well in the future.

Google Calendar and Google Docs let you seamlessly transition between on- and offline modes. When you’re offline in Google Calendar, you can view events from your calendars and RSVP to appointments. With Google Docs you can view documents and spreadsheets when you don’t have a connection. Offline editing isn’t ready yet, but we know it’s important to many of you, and we’re working hard to make it a reality. To get started using Google Calendar or Google Docs offline, just click the gear icon at the top right corner of the web app and select the option for offline access.

The question remains: Do you think that Google should offer offline support for other web browsers as well? Let me know in the comments.

Now Google are hitting out with a blog post entitled “365 reasons to consider Google Apps“.  Now this article, which contains just four points, not 365 (to reassure all those people who never finished War and Peace), is singing the praises of Google’s alternative.  They list that it’s Designed for Teams, but Office 365 has collaboration built into it big time.  In fact it can easily be argued that teams is what Office 365 is all about.

Google go on to say you can be Productive anywhere with their suite.  As it’s a cloud-based offering though I’d hope for this as the very minimum.  They then say it’s Simple and Affordable, and go on to say that pricing starts from only $5 a month, which is exactly what office 365 pricing starts at too.

Finally they talk about the Pure and Proven Cloud.  Google have a good reputation in this, but so do Microsoft and there’s the small matter that Google Docs spent, well I lost count frankly, in beta before it was finally considered finished.  In fact all Google products live like this.

Despite the chastising I’m not being anti-Google here.  I believe that not only is there more than enough space in the worldwide cloud business productivity marketplace to support two different systems, but that it’s absolutely essential that both compete with each other and do so aggressively.  After all, everybody remembers how Internet Explorer 6 languished unimproved for many years while malware took hold, simply because it didn’t have any competition.

Competition is critical but Google have got to raise their game.  They even say at the end of their blog post “Ok, we didn’t get to all 365 reasons here today, but we hope we gave you some things to think about.”  WHAT?!  I can think of a reason right here, it’s available and working 365 days a year, why didn’t they say that?

Suffice to say my argument here is that Google have tried to compete with Office 365 by telling the world that everything their competitor does, they do the same thing.  This is ridiculous!  If Google are ever going to compete here and not get completely stamped on by Microsoft, they need to tell people about all the differences, all the little things that Google Apps does which Office 365 doesn’t that, ultimately make all the difference, and they need to make a big song and dance about the fact that they were here first and, thus, will have much more experience.

Those things are true and worth shouting about.  At the moment, poor Google is trying desperately to say “we’re every bit as good as Office 365″ while putting across an underlying message of “we know we’re not really and it’s getting us down a bit.”

Online cloud services for businesses are going to be huge in the coming years, huge enough for several major players to get involved, and they’ll prove to be critically important for the world’s economy, especially in emerging markets and for small businesses that can’t currently afford to compete with the big boys in a level playing field.  It’s utterly essential then that Microsoft have at least one proper competitor who is prepared to roll its sleeves up and get stuck in with the job at hand.

I’m sorry Google but this kind of wimpy, last minute effort simply isn’t good enough.

If you have a single less-than sign, it changes the behavior of the document. Everything before it will work properly, but nothing after it will be marked as misspelled. As far as you can tell, everything is fine; this is a false positive. While annoying, there is something you can do.

I found two fixes for this problem: the greater-than sign (>) or a period (.) with a capital letter. The greater-than sign provides much more consistent results, but may not flow in a sentence. The period/capital method is more finicky, but the results are more elegant. Depending on how you need your document to look, you may want to use one or the other. Granted, if you do not need a less-than sign, avoiding it can be a good plan A.

Placing a greater-than sign anywhere after the less-than sign will return normal functionality to spell-checking. It doesn’t matter how far after the less-than sign is. Be it immediately after or half a page down, words should begin to be marked as incorrect (if any exist). Anything in between, however, is still clear of red, dotted underlines. You can use this to your advantage.

The great-than sign fix.
spelll < spelll > spelll

Say you had a list of names, fictional places, or brand products. These will be marked as misspelled under normal circumstances, which some may find distracting. To stop this, you could add all that information to the dictionary used, or you could encapsulate them in less-than and greater-than signs. This would leave your list clear. If you are printing or sharing the document, make the signs white. They will be invisible.

The period/capital method is more problematic. Ideally, you want the period to be before the capital. The other way around will work (a capital and then a period), but with undesired results. Say you have a less-than sign at the end of one line used as an arrow (<--). On the next line there is a sentence. Because there is no period before the first word in the sentence, this sentence will not be marked for errors. After the sentence is finished, spell checking resumes. Instead of a period, an exclamation point (!) or question mark (?) will work; a comma (,), colon (:), or semi -colon (;) will not.

The period/capitol fix.
Testt sentence one. <--
Testt sentence two. Testt sentence three.

The place where this could produce the worst repercussions is in mathematical and computational notations. The less-than sign is commonly used, but not always with a greater-than sign or period after it. The root of the problem is that, when needed, the sign cannot be avoided.

The reason for this may have something to do with html tags (e.g.
). These tags may contain text outside of spoken language. Displaying them as misspelled could cause someone to “correct” the unrecognized text, compromising the code. Leaving text unchecked in a tag prevents this, thus it might be viewed as a feature.

The important thing to keep in mind, for a normal document, is be careful how you use the less-than sign. It might cause you to overlook simple misspellings. It is easy for text without the red, dotted underline to go unnoticed, so look for it when proofreading.

There are two ways to do this. The first is to share by collection, rather than by file. This is not anything special, but it is a good idea to name the collection by person or group. The second method is to set up shared collections per individual. This is more work, but it has a few advantages.

For each person, you create a separate, dedicated collection that is only shared with the two of you. Do this for anyone you want to share documents with. Be sure to label the folder something like “their name – your name” and place them in a “Shares” collection. From here, apply the shared label to any file or collection you want. You can right click any item and select Organize… to check-off any labels you want.

The collections that any document belongs to shows next to the file name. With proper labels, you can see exactly who the document is shared with. Not so with traditional methods. From the main document listing, to see who has access to a collection, it needs to be selected. For a group of files not in a collection, you have to select them one-by-one. This can be time consuming, as the share list only shows in the description of individual documents.

For every new shared item, an e-mail has to be sent out to the newly involved party. This can be a problem if a file does not have much information in it. There is nothing to report yet. Since a collection created for an individual (or group) is not new, it can be used to give access without premature notification.

Sadly, there will be times when you want to revoke access. Going through vast amounts of files is a time sink. I have experienced bugs when removing people from the shared list in a collection. With the individual label method, you can see exactly what is shared to them by viewing that person’s label. You can also delete the label entirely.

You can take this idea to the next level by having two shares per person. Use one for complete access and another for read-only access. Another level of sub-collections and some color- coding will help to organize your system. This is more than most people really need, but it is an idea worth considering.

An easy way to lose track of document shares is to assign them to people by file. There is no easy way to administer documents with this method. This goes double for sharing a file with a link. Granted, for a person who does not use Gmail, this may be your only option. Sound advice would be to make a public collection for files individually shared via links. Then you would be able to keep track of them.

This individual label method will take some initiative, but it is worth the work. Creating the share is a one-time hassle. In the long run, it is less intrusive to contacts. The end result is an organized, flexible, visual system designed to be easy to administer. You even have revocation abilities. Other features, such as group e-mailing, should not be hampered at all. Users can still see who has access to a document from the Share button.

The storage space can be used by the Google products Google Docs, Picasa, Blooger, Google Buzz and Gmail. It is assigned on a first come first serve basis which means that it is possible to use the additional storage space exclusively for one product if it is the only Google product used.

We all know that it is possible to upload multiple files to Google Docs via the web client. Documents can be dragged and dropped to the interface or selected via a built-in file browser. This works well for a couple files, but is not that practicable for dozens, hundreds or even thousands of documents, especially if they are stored in different folders on the computer.

The alternative? CyberDuck, a free data transfer client for Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows PCs. The program supports several protocols,like ftp, sftp or webdav, and offers built-in support for cloud based solutions that includes Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud Files and Google Docs.

The Google Docs integration is one of the easiest to configure. It begins with the selection of the Open Connection button in the program interface. This opens a smaller window where a new connection can be configured.

Only the Google account email and password are needed to establish a connection to Google Docs. The program tries to connect to Google right after the credentials have been entered. All existing folders and files are displayed in the program window if the log in was successful.

Documents can now be uploaded via the Upload button in the header, or a right-click in the file listing and the selection of Upload. The major advantage over the web interface upload is that it is possible to select files or folders for upload. Imagine a folder with dozens of subfolders. It requires quite some browsing and selecting to upload all the available documents to Google Docs via the web interface.

If you use Cyberduck instead, you just have to select the root folder and the program takes care of the rest. This way it is possible to upload hundreds of documents at once with minimal effort.

Another interesting option is the ability to sync a folder with the online storage at Google Docs. This is also configured in a few steps. The action button displays a list of available options, and synchronize is one of them. Cyberduck displays all files of the folder in a listing to give the user an option to block select files from the process. All remaining files can then be synchronized with the Google Docs server.

Documents can also be transferred from Google Docs to the local system if the need should arise.

Cyberduck is an excellent program that serves many different purposes besides the ones mentioned in the article. It is an excellent program to upload multiple documents to Google Docs, and may save lots of time even if it is a one time process.

Interested users can download the application from the developer homepage at Cyberduck.ch. (via)

Cloud Save is a new extension for the Google Chrome browser that integrates several popular cloud based storage solutions into the browser.

How does it work? The Chrome extension adds a Cloud Save entry to the Google Chrome mouse context menu. The new option appears therefor on every right-click in the web browser ui.

Cloud Save offers to send the data to online storage providers. The available context menu entries change based on the source file type. Flickr and Picasa are for instance displayed among other options on image right-clicks, but not on document right-clicks.

Popular cloud based providers that are supported by the extension, other than the two image hosting providers, are Dropbox, Google Docs or Twitpic.

The extension redirects the request to the website of the selected provider. The next step depends largely on the selected service. Some, like Twitpic and Twitter, require that the user allows the extension, or more precisely its back-end, access rights. On other sites it is just required to log in, or stay logged in, to save the selected file online.

Cloud Save has a few problems, which may be attributed to the fact that the developer finished the first version in less than 40 minutes.

For one, users who select Google Docs may get an error message when they try to upload unsupported file types, unless they are enterprise customers who do not have file type limitations. Another problem related to Google Docs is that images are saved as documents, and not in their original image format.

Some commenters mentioned that they were unable to save files to specific folders which would be a serious problem if true. The Save As option of the context menu can be used to save files to specific folders and with different file names.

Uploading to Picasa lastly does not seem to work right now. It is likely that the developer will improve the Chrome extension as he is actively answering questions in the comments that indicate it.

Chrome users can install the Cloud Save extension directly at the Chrome Extensions repository.

Update: The author has removed the extension from the official Chrome Extension repository.

Google has just announced the general availability of Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office which acts as a bridge between Microsoft’s desktop application and the Google Docs online service.

Cloud Connect adds sharing and simultaneously editing of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint to Microsoft Office.

Documents can be synced with Google Docs which has the additional benefit that they are constantly backed up from that point in time and since all documents can be accessed via a unique web address it is easy to share files with other users and access them from other computers and via mobile devices.

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office remembers edits if the user is offline to sync the documents once a net connection becomes available again.

Users need to install Google Cloud Connect first, then log in with a Google account. It is possible to log in automatically from that point on to avoid having to log in every time Google Docs need to be accessed in Microsoft Office.

A toolbar displays the features, for instance the web url of the current document, syncing button or the share button.

A click on the share button opens the sharing menu with options to give other users permissions to access the document.

The integration into Microsoft Office is solid. Documents can only be shared with other users once they have been synced with Google Docs.

Google Cloud Connect Feature Overview

Collaborative editing

Multiple people can edit the same doc at the same time. New users can be added as editors by the document owner. They then receive an email with a link that allows them to view the document in read only mode in Google Docs. Documents can be downloaded to Microsoft Office and edited simultaneously, providing that both users have Google Cloud Connect installed on their system.

Edits are automatically synced with all collaborators.

Revision History

Google Cloud Connect tracks, manages and syncs all changes into one updated version of a document. Older versions of a document can be retrieved directly in Microsoft Office.

Share a doc

It is possible to share documents with other people and give them specific access rights. Sharing and visibility settings are configured in Microsoft Office.

Resolve Overlapping Edits

Edit Offline

Syncing in the cloud

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office can be downloaded and installed from Google Tools. The application is compatible with Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and Microsoft Office 2010. It runs on Windows XP with the .NET Framework 2.0 and Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Google on Friday announced that they have added support for 12 new file formats in the Google Docs Viewer. Support for all file formats mentioned above have been added plus support for Apple Pages .pages, Adobe Illustrator .ai, Autodesk AutoCad .dxf, Scalable Vector Graphics .svg, Postscript .eps and .ps, TrueType .ttf and XMP Paper Specification .xps.

What does it mean for users of the service? First, all major Microsoft Office 2010 formats are now supported by Google Doc Viewer. Supported are both Microsoft Word (doc and docx), Microsoft Excel (xls and xlsx) and Microsoft PowerPoint (ppt and pptx) formats which can now be viewed online.

As usual, support for new formats has an impact on other Google services that make use of the Google Docs Viewer. Google’s email service Gmail for instance now offers a View link for those newly supported formats so that they can be viewed directly online without need for a desktop software supporting the file format.

The new file format can also be uploaded and shared directly in Google Docs. Google Docs Viewer is accessible right here. It can be used directly to view a document that is located on the Internet. Just paste the url of the document into the form and click the Generate link button for options to view the document online.

Google Docs Viewer supports all document formats that Google Docs supports, and is available online without the need for a Google account. This can be a very comfortable option, especially if a document needs to be viewed without a compatibly viewer available on the local system. But there are other benefits of opening documents directly online. Security comes to mind. Instead of having to open a pdf document in Adobe Reader, users can open it online to avoid any threats targeting Adobe’s product.

Lets take a look how documents can be viewed online using the service. The user first needs to open the Docs Viewer homepage. It offers a form at the top, a generate link button and some explanations at the bottom of the screen.

google docs viewer

All that needs to be done now is to copy and paste a direct document link into the form at the top and press the Generate Link button afterwards. Don’t get confused by the statement on the page that the service online supports PDF, PowerPoint and TIFF. You can feed it any document link that is supported by Google Docs. The service generates a clickable link and several copy and paste links to use in instant messengers, emails or to embed the viewer on a website.

The clickable link opens the document in Google Docs where the usual controls are available. As mentioned earlier, no account is needed to view the document online. Users with a Google account do however have access to additional features, like the ability to save the document in their Google Docs storage.

Google Docs Viewer is a solid option for users who want to view documents online. Other services offer a similar experience, for instance Zoho’s Online Viewer.

A desktop software may also offer better manageability of the documents.

The Java application iGoSyncDocs can be used to access documents in a Google Docs account from the desktop. The software is compatible with Windows and Linux according to the project homepage.

A login dialog is displayed on startup, The Google Docs login credentials need to be entered before the document view is loaded.

Documents are sorted in groups on the left side, and displayed on the right. The left side contains groups for all items, documents, spreadsheets, presentations or stared items among others.

google docs desktop software

A right-click on a document opens the context menu with options to view the selected document, spreadsheet or presentation online at the Google Docs website, download it to the local computer, star, hide, delete, trash or rename it, or share it by emailing it to editors or viewers, a Google group or a Google Apps domain.

But documents can not only be viewed or downloaded, they can also be created or uploaded. Those options are also accessible from the context menu, or alternatively from the File menu.

Newly created documents are automatically synced with the Google Docs server. The process appears to be a bit buggy at the moment, as the creation of a new document caused the context menu to disappear completely except for the option to view the document online. A reconnect resolved those issues.

The synchronization options are very limited at this point in time. The only sync-like feature available is the creation and syncing of those newly created documents with Google Docs. The program lacks an option to sync a folder on the computer automatically, or to download all docs or selected docs in intervals.

An option to edit a document directly in the Google Docs manager would have been beneficial as well.

The Open Source software iGoSyncDocs has some potential, but that depends largely on the addition of new features that make it more practicable to work with. One to keep an eye on.

Docs.com is built on Microsoft Office 2010 Web Apps platform. It will allow Facebook users to create, edit and share Microsoft Office documents directly on the website.

The service is currently in private beta. Interested users can use their Facebook account to join the waiting list and receive notifications when the service becomes available for them.

Let’s take a moment to walk through a typical social document lifecycle. Creating a document is the first step—and it couldn’t be easier. You can start the document on your desktop version of Microsoft Office, or you can go to Docs and start one in the cloud.

Once you’ve saved a document to docs.com, you can begin sharing by granting viewing and editing rights to your friends. By clicking on the ‘edit’ button beside ‘viewers’ when you have one of your docs open, you can choose to add one or multiple friends, let all your friends view the doc…or share your doc with all Facebook users. By clicking on the ‘edit’ button beside ‘editors,’ you can also add one or multiple friends…or let all your friends edit this doc.

Once you’ve shared a doc, your friends will discover it just like they discover photos or videos today. Friends who log into Facebook to see what you’ve been up to will see the docs you’ve shared. They can also see your docs integrated directly into your profile. You can also add a tab to your profile page that will let your friends see any documents that you’ve shared just with them…and docs you’ve share with everyone.

On Facebook, you can discuss a doc just as you would a status update or photo —so there’s really nothing new to learn here. To start using Docs, just pop over to docs.com and upload or create a new doc. If you need a little more help, go to docs.com/about and watch the ‘Getting Started’ tutorial.

Microsoft has created two demonstration videos that explain the basic functionality of Docs.

The beta version supports Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations which can be uploaded, created and edited in Docs.com. That’s different from Google Docs which allow a user to upload other document formats as well.

Another difference between the two services is work collaboration which exists in Google Docs but not in Docs.com.

The new additions that have been added today include:

A better document editor

What Google says:

We’ve brought the responsive, real-time editing experience you’ve come to expect from our spreadsheets over to documents, which means you can now see character-by-character changes as other collaborators make edits. We also added another popular feature from spreadsheets: sidebar chat, so you can discuss documents as you work on them with colleagues.

The new technical foundation also helped us improve document formatting, which means better import/export fidelity, a revamped comment system, real margins and tab stops, and improved image layout within documents. These improvements have been highly requested, but previously impossible to create with the older documents editor on older browsers.

We were not able to test this feature yet as it has not been activated for our account. Google noted that the feature will be available to all users in the coming days. It is likely that a New Version link will appear on top to switch to the new editor, exactly as the new editor is accessed when viewing a spreadsheet in Google Docs.

A faster spreadsheet editor

What Google says:

With the new spreadsheets editor, you’ll see significant speed and performance improvements — spreadsheets load faster, are more responsive and scroll more seamlessly. We’ve also added a host of often requested features, like a formula bar for cell editing, auto-complete, drag and drop columns, and simpler navigation between sheets. And as always, real-time collaboration in spreadsheets is easy with sidebar chat and the ability to see which cell each person is editing.

The new spreadsheet editor is not enabled by default. Google Docs users should see a New Version link after opening a spreadsheet in Google Docs.

Clicking the New Version link will open a notification with a button to try the new version. Pressing the button loads the new spreadsheet editor, and Google Docs will automatically load all spreadsheets in the new spreadsheet editor instead of the old one. There is an Old Version link in the top header navigation, allowing users to switch between the new and old versions of the editor as needed.

Performance has been increased by Google including initial spreadsheet loading time, scrolling and edits from collaborators. The new additions to the editor all make sense. Prominent new features include the Formula Bar, a long requested feature, as well as autofill and column dragging and sorting

A new collaborative drawing editor

What Google says:

In the year since we launched the Insert drawing tool, we’ve received many requests for the ability to collaborate on drawings and make them accessible directly from the docs list. The new standalone drawings editor lets you collaborate in real time on flow charts, designs, diagrams and other fun or business graphics. Copy these drawings into documents, spreadsheets and presentations using the web clipboard, or share and publish drawings just like other Google Docs.

Drawings look a lot like presentations, with the main difference seeming to be that drawings are limited to a single page. Drawings can also be added to spreadsheets, presentations and documents.The drawings can be created in collaboration and are then accessible directly from the list of available documents and files.

Take a look at the video that has been created by the Google Docs team that showcases the new features.

Currently only the drawings and spreadsheet editor have been enabled for Google Docs users. The new documents editor will be enabled in the coming days. Google Gears users should note that these new editors are currently not compatible with the technology that powers the offline access, however Google promised to add support for these new editors in future versions.

Google has concentrated their development efforts on performance and collaboration in this new Google Docs release. The lack of offline editing capabilities could prove to be problematic, but it should still be possible to use the old editors for that.

One thing however that bothers me a little bit is that there does not seem to be a way to integrate Google Docs in Windows Explorer natively. Natively meaning without a software or application running in the background that provides that functionality.

I have discovered several programs that can be used to send documents from Windows Explorer to Google Docs. These include Quick Tools for Google Apps or Google Docs Uploader but their functionality is only available for as long as the programs are running.

I’m more looking for a solution that integrates the upload into Windows Explorer without a software running in the background all the time. Much like the Virus Total Uploader is offering. The program only starts up if the user selects the option to send the selected files to Virus Total.

The question is: Is there a way to integrate Google Docs into Windows Explorer without a permanent process in the background that is providing that functionality?

The premise of the article is that living without PDF readers is possible if you do not have to use them for work (either readers or creators). The author of this article – that would be me – accesses about 10-20 pdf documents per month. That’s not a lot and using alternatives to pdf readers is not a task that is slowing down work by much.

A user on the other hand who reads 10-20 per day might think otherwise.

The question is: If there are no pdf readers installed, how can pdf documents be read? There are two answers to this question.

• Use an online service to process them
• Use a pdf converter to convert them into another format

Online services like Google Docs can display pdf documents right in the web browser. The advantage of this method is that the pdf is not executed on the user’s computer system which means that any exploits will have no effect. It takes on the other hand a tad longer to open Google Docs, upload the pdf and view it online.

Some users have also reported that Google Docs did not offer all the features and functions that Adobe Reader for instance offers. Those users might need to keep Adobe Reader or another pdf reader for now.

Users who are only accessing information can do so with Google Docs or Zoho easily.

Converting pdfs instead is a second solution. This can also be done offline or online. There are tools available that can convert pdf documents easily like Hello PDF for instance. It would however mean to replace one software with another which might also be exploited.

Online pdf converters like Free PDF Convert on the other hand offer the same advantages and disadvantages as online pdf readers.

It should be quite possible to uninstall all pdf readers and use one of the two alternatives described above. Some users might prefer to install a lesser popular pdf reader like Sumatra instead.

Which pdf reader do you have installed? Would you be able to live without a pdf reader on your computer?

Techcrunch was able to uncover additional details from Google Docs product manager Vijay Bangar about the new Google Docs service. The maximum file size has been set to 250 Megabytes which is the same limit that is currently in place for file types that are not converted by the Google service.

Each Google Docs user receives a free quote of 1 Gigabyte of data that can be stored on the Google Docs servers. Additional Gigabytes can be purchased for the low fee of $0.25 per Gigabyte per year. Business users on the other hand have to pay more as their pricing starts at $17 per year for 5 Gigabytes of storage space. No bandwidth fees are charged apparently.

All the existing features of Google Docs including the ability to make uploads private or public are available for the general file types as well.

Will Google Docs become the new Rapidshare? Could be a dream come true for the file sharing scene: Unlimited bandwidth, no wait time and 1 Gigabyte of space.

The chance is however relatively good that some developers have already created extensions for popular web services. This article will look at five Google Chrome extensions for popular Google web services including Gmail and Google Reader.

Gmail Checker

Gmail Checker is a simple extension that displays a button in the Google Chrome menu bar. This button displays the number of unread email messages in the Gmail account which makes the extension useful as the user will be notified about new Gmail messages without having to visit the Gmail website first. [link]

Google Reader Checker

This is from the same developer who developed the Gmail Checker extension for the Chrome web browser. It is therefor not surprising that it works exactly like that extension. It will display a new button in the Chrome menubar that shows the count of the unread news items in Google Reader. [link]

Google Tasks

The Google Tasks add-on integrates Google Tasks into the web browser by allowing the user to access the tasks directly from within the web browser without having to open the Google Tasks website. [link]

gPDF

This extension allows the user to open pdf documents directly in Google Docs. There are two advantages of this method. First, no pdf reader needs to be installed on the computer system to read pdf documents and second, it will reduce the chance that the document exploits security vulnerabilities in the installed desktop pdf reader. [link]

Google Wave Checker

A basic extension that will display the unread Google Wave messages in the Google Chrome statusbar. [link]

Verdict:

Extensions are finally beginning to appear in greater numbers for the Google Chrome web browser but are hardly a match for the incredible amount of extensions for the Firefox web browser. It is likely that this is not going to change in the near future. The first step to make extensions more popular to both developers and end users would be to add extension capabilities to the public version of the Google browser.