Danny Gorog25 July 2007, 6:34 AM
If you tried Google Docs and Spreadsheets a while back and concluded it's no replacement for Microsoft Office, take another look. Google has just added a wave of new features.
Google has just released an update for its online Spreadsheet that adds a few more features to its fledgling web-based productivity suite. I've been using Google Docs and Spreadsheets (GDS) for most of my documents and spreadsheets for over a year now and it's always exciting to open up a new document and find new features that a) you didn't have to pay for and b) didn't take you any effort to install.
The update to Google Spreadsheet adds the following new features:
- A calculation summary at the bottom of the window (That gives you Sum, Average, Count, Min and Max information)
- The ability to freeze header rows in a sheet
- The ability to sort columns
- More visibility when other users are sharing and editing a document - Google Spreadsheet now shows you the cells collaborators are editing by highlighting the cells in different colours
- Read support for virtually all web browsers, giving you access to your documents all the time.
 Quick Sum feature |
 New sort options - Finally! |
Additionally, I've noticed that Google Docs has also received a small update and now features more detailed word count information, including readability details like Flesch Reading Ease , Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and an Automated Readability Index .
 More details in the Word Count dialogue. |
Because GDS relies on an active Internet connection it's only useful in an online environment. Once Google figure out how to provide access to your data (and I'm sure they are working on it as evidenced by the recent
Google Gears announcement) when offline GDS will become more useful.
However, if like the majority of MS Office users you have only basic requirements (like preparation of simple documents and spreadsheets) and are online all the time than it's worth checking out GDS. The ability to collaborate and share information is first class (and certainly preferable to emailing different versions of the same document back and forth).
If GDS is too rudimentary for your needs but you're still keen to try an online office suite check out ThinkFree Online . It's a more comprehensive product offering than GDS but also, in my experience has too many features for novice users.