Google Docs & Spreadsheets: games or tools

Google's office suite is a great choice for quick collaboration, but has not yet surpassed Word and Excel.

Are you looking for a free text editor and spreadsheet? Google's newly launched Docs & Spreadsheet can meet that requirement. But please do not be excited. It's free, but that doesn't mean you don't have to pay a price. While Spreadsheets is robust with performance acceleration, it is suitable for simple spreadsheets, so Docs (formerly Writely) is so weak that we don't want to recommend it, even if it's just accidental.

We have tested this pair of programs on Internet Explorer 6 - 7, Opera 9 and Firefox 1.5. The results show that Google Spreadsheets is quite interesting, and Docs leaves no impression. Moreover there are too many enforcement issues that make us hesitate to use it, unless there is no other way.

During the testing process, we constantly got annoyed with the ' Network error ' error , preventing the recording of a working file. Even the grammar check has encountered this error (since after Docs required to record the first document). Likewise, the ' Unable to connect to the network ' error also occurs that makes us extremely disappointed, but 'helps' us to get the final decision: it's best not to use it. If not, you will always have to worry whether your documents or spreadsheets will work the next day, hopefully they will not naturally disappear or be modified naturally so you can no longer work.

Google Docs

Docs is a primary editing program, similar to WordPad, but has some higher components. Some editing commands include undo, redo, font editing (there are 19 text fonts plus WingDings style), 7 font sizes, background highlighting, automatic list markings (use numbers or 3 dots ), indent - increase the margin, align the margin (left, right, middle). You can choose one of the 3 types of heading styles; Line spacing: single, 1.5, double and triple with superscript, subscript, strikeout attributes.

You can insert comments, hyperlinks, page breaks, line breaks and images. Adding tables easily with many options is similar to the program to create HTML source code (add cells, create cell spacing, .). HTML is one of 5 types of text file formats (HTML, Word, PDF, OpenOffice, RTF) that you can record on Google servers.

The syntax check function will color the yellow background when an error is detected; Right-click on the problem area or add words to your dictionary. There is also a function to store the old version, allowing you to compare two versions together or easily switch to the previous version. However, this text editor lacks some basic features like the Find command (Docs only supports ' Search and Replace ' commands), .

Although the speed and latency of opening files are acceptable, Docs is not stable. When you paint the text and press a function key like Del, Docs takes a few seconds to delete it. We often encounter problems late, or pull back when cutting, pasting text, even with a broadband connection.

Google Spreadsheets and the combined program

Google Spreadsheets supports more than 200 features. With simple calculations, a short workbook, it is a pretty pleasant choice. But if you want a higher level (using graphs for example), you will need a stronger program. So far, no spreadsheet program has passed Microsoft Excel.

Google said that Docs and Spreadsheets are interlinked, but there is only a hint of that. You can't even insert a Spreadsheets spreadsheet into Docs documents. The introductory screen provides a list of shared files and the ability to search for keywords in both applications from a single input field, but that's it.

Practically these applications have different origins. In Docs, write the file to your hard drive, using the File / Save As command; in Spreadsheets is File / Export. These conflicts should be removed in the next beta.

Both programs depend on the Print feature on your browser. Therefore, print (print) control is minimized. Likewise, you can't use the popular hotkey Alt + F on both Docs and Spreadsheets to write open files under the File command in the browser. Some other popular shortcuts can be used: Docs support Ctr + S (for recording), Ctrl + A (select all); Spreadsheets supports Ctr + S.

Bright spots of Docs and Spreadsheets

The most interesting thing about both programs is that it is easy to share documents with multiple users. You can send invitations to friends and colleagues to allow them to either edit, view your text file or spreadsheet. The program is distributed via e-mail with an affiliate link. On Spreadsheets you are even allowed to open a chat session management window when editing the worksheet as if working in a group.

Sharing text files is easy to understand and easy to use. You no longer need an interesting SharePoint service like before. Appearing in e-mail as a text link, not an attachment, your job is to gently label the collaborator. In Docs, you can write text to a blog. A link allows you to install a Blogger account.

If you need a quick way to collaborate text documents or review a spreadsheet with coworkers, Docs and Spreadsheets are not meaningless. With a simple, easy-to-understand user interface, you can work in conjunction with Microsoft Word or Excel spreadsheets daily. or one of the three programs with a separate function on your computer like OpenOffice.

T.Thu