Comments on: Will Google Office Catch On?

By: Mack D. Male

Mack D. Male — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 02:13:23 +0000

You need to try Office 2007. Use the new Word, Excel or PowerPoint for a few days, and you’ll wonder how you ever used anything else. There’s no way “Google Office” or even “Live Office” would be able to replace these new apps!

Granted, there is value in having something simple, fast, and online – but not for every scenario.

By: Venkatesh

Venkatesh — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 19:08:05 +0000

MS Access is missing. Google should offer a Web based DB solution.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 18:38:42 +0000

Last night I downloaded Open Office and it is still a great free option!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 18:14:58 +0000

Well all the reviews for the new office 2007 have been mostly positive once you get passed the idea that they virtually changed the entire menu system. With this in mind, I don’t think Google’s office solution is going to fly very well. One of the major hurdles is that sometimes you just want to be working off line or look at an office document on that spare computer in the back keeping track of some inventory on an older PC with no Internet access. Google can’t reach those computers and a lot of small non-tech businesses still have those. (They might even being running with cobol developed programs… EEK)

I think Google should make its focus as a way of sharing documents than simply trying to replace office programs. If people can develop with office and share with Google, they will make something much more successful.

By: David Smith

David Smith — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:57:30 +0000

How to get corporate users to use Google Office? Simple, offer applicances just like they do for search. They can develop the software, then sell it, plus create linkages so that people will use the online solutions to pump up the ad hits…

By: Hans Schmucker

Hans Schmucker — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:55:43 +0000

Just a quick correction: Open Office is free as well (hence the name )

About the post itself: I look forward to it. I mean with Wordprocessors I definately need the power of OpenOffice Writer (or the Microsoft counterpart), but for presentations I typically need 10 to 15 functions, so I’d really appreciate a less cluttered interface and the power to quickly switch to another computer if the projector again refuses to work with this particular laptop.

By: a

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:50:24 +0000

Just FYI, Open Office is free…

By: Brad Williams

Brad Williams — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:49:39 +0000

Hi, Mark. Another big difference between Google Office and some other office alternatives is: a Google user permanently commits his or her data to Google servers. I wouldn’t want one supercomputer to have all of my emails, my financial spreadsheets, my writing projects, and my search history, etc., integrated by username and/or IP addresses and exploitable for unlimited potential uses by unimaginable future AI, forevermore. There can be no guarantee that such information will not be used, in the decades to come, in some way I will not like. The only server that has guaranteed privacy is the one running in one’s home.

That said, I do use and love Gmail, but of course any email system has imperfect privacy by definition: SMTP is a *network transport* service.

As a Google products user, what do you think of this issue?

By: Rick

Rick — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:38:44 +0000

I also find myself using Google docs more and more. In practice, it’s mostly the spreadsheet and not the old Writely, but that is because I use so many list-based docs. For straightforward lists and financial functions, Google sheets is great – I can access it from my work computer, home computer, and wife’s computer downstairs. The sharing function makes it easy to share certain files, and I don’t have to worry about backing up excel sheets, or using an out of date sheet.

I wouldn’t use this for the corporate financial planning, but it is wonderful for just about everything else.

By: Barry Rader

Barry Rader — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:32:04 +0000

Since when did Open Office become a pay product(not free)?