Google has done it again! On what some perceive as an attack on Microsoft Office productivity suite, Google has launched a plug-in for Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 which allows you to synchronize your MS Office documents with Google Docs, Google Cloud Connect! Others are saying Microsoft should actually be pleased, as Google is offering free cloud storage and synchronization for their product, which means
more possible customers for Office. In a quick reaction Microsoft has published several posts on their official blog warning Office users that this plug-in may cause serious problems, from privacy issues to loss of data, but users seem to be unaffected.
I have tried Google Cloud Connect with Microsoft Office 2010 and I must say it is a treat. It allows me to create, open or edit a document on my favourite productivity suite, and have it synced with Google Docs, making it accessible on any computer I may be working on, in any point of the globe. More. it allows me to share the said document with those I want and actually edit it at the same time with a log of changes available. I can now work on an Excel file, editing a table full of data, whilst a colleague of mine across the world is working on the same document, creating and customizing a chart for that same data, and every time one of us saves the document the other sees the changes!
Google Cloud Connect actually saves the document on my storage space in Google Docs in its original MS Office format, Word, Excel or PowerPoint, and I have the option to convert it to the Google Docs format as well.
The one thing I would like to see changed is the humongous space the Google Cloud Connect plug-in takes on the application ribbon/toolbar itself. I would much like to see it as a tab on the ribbon instead of a bar taking precious space on my editable area. Google, integrate your plug-in with the ribbon and we will be friends for life!
If you want to try it out, get it @ http://tools.google.com/dlpage/cloudconnect
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