What is Google Docs? Do you use them?

I recently discovered Google docs and man was it such a great way to be super productive. Google Docs i s a free, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and form application offered by Google. It allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating in real-time with other users.

Helps one create and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations. It’s free. You can: 1) Access your documents online from any computer with an internet connection.
2) Add collaborators to your document and Docs will send them a link to access the doc online (no need to send email attachments back and forth) 3) Decide who can view and edit each document (only you, some people, or everyone)

Google Docs is Google’s “software as a service” version of an office suite. Documents, spreadsheets, forms and presentations can be created within the application itself, imported through the web interface, or sent via email. They can also be saved to the user’s computer in a variety of formats (OpenOffice, HTML, PDF, RTF, Text, Word). By default, they are saved to the Google servers. Open documents are automatically saved to prevent data loss, and a revision history is automatically kept. Documents can be tagged and archived for organizational purposes. The service is officially supported on recent versions of the Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Chrome browsers running on Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X, and Linux operating systems

But is it safe?  On March 10, 2009, Google reported that a bug in Google Docs had allowed unintended access to some private documents. It was believed that 0.05% of documents stored via the service were affected by the bug, which Google claimed had been fixed

One more cool feature is its Mobile Google Docs, it allows mobile phone users to browse their Google Docs documents in a mobile browser. Users can view documents and view and edit spreadsheets, but not presentations or view PDF files, but alternative websites to Google can be used for this goal. Versions of Google Docs for the iPhone and Android include functionality for editing spreadsheets and viewing presentations, along with an interface designed specifically for the device. On the other hand, one cannot view or edit open format database files.

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Forms let you collect information from any-sized group into a single online spreadsheet.