Google Docs and Spreadsheets: No OS Needed

Think about working in the the two arguably biggest applications in the Microsoft Office Suite: Word and Excel. Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to worry about what computer you used to create the document or spreadsheet, whether Windows, Mac, or other? What if you didn't have to worry about where you stored that document -- what if you could store it online?

Well, that time has come. Google has offered for a while a service called Google Spreadsheets, and now they have just added Google Docs. Docs was originally a product from a company called Writely, which was acquired by Google, and now these two applications have been released together at docs.google.com. To take full advantage, you'll need to have signed up for a free Google account -- you've done that already, right?

Once there, you'll see what genius is really behind these two apps, although I admit that I use Docs more than Spreadsheets right now. Everything is stored online. You don't have to worry what OS you are running -- Mac, Windows, Linux -- as long as you can get to a web browser and on the internet, you can get to your stuff. All the familiar tools are there, plus more...you can now collaborate with others, giving them access via email address to your docs online so that they can make additions and revisions if needed. You can even upload Word and Excel docs you already have somewhere on your hard drive, and start keeping them on Google Docs & Spreadsheets. And finally, in what may be the coolest part, you can Publish your doc or spreadsheet online or on your blog. If you go the online route, your doc is assigned its own URL on google.com that you can share with friends, family, and colleagues. Or, you can post it directly to your blog.

I'm just scratching the surface here. So go check it out for yourself, and see what you can accomplish in these apps when you break the bond tying them to your operating system.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets