Apr
Google to Take Over Microsoft?
Okay, the title is a bit of a stretch, but Google appears to be challenging the primacy of Microsoft Office with free online software.
When I began using this Googlian Office-style service, I used something called Writely, which was a nifty word processor that could read and save Word files. Writely is now Google Docs and Spreadsheets, with an Excel emulator built in.Â
To use this software, you merely need to have a Google account, which I have in spades, including AdWords, AdSense and GMail. Once in your account, you can scroll across the menu at the top and choose Docs and Spreadsheets, which came in handy for me recently when a recalcitrant PC wouldn’t allow me to download file attachments. Since the files were in my GMail, I merely used Docs and Spreadsheets to open, work on and then save them.  Docs and Spreadsheets is a very elegant and intuitive program.
The next piece in the puzzle is Google Presentations, which I had heard is now available, but I couldn’t find it on my Google account. This, of course, would be Google’s free alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint. What’s next, the Google browser?
If Microsoft gets challenged or even bites the dust, I would say poetic justice has been served, but then Google truly would be the master of the universe it hopes to be. That, dear folks, is a very scary thought indeed.
Tags: Microsoft Office, Google, Google Docs and Spreadsheets
