Google Online docs & spreadsheets
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By Gregg
Perez and Tony Pham
| Published Feb 2008
The cost of Microsoft Office
can be expensive for an individual who only needs a word processor
application. Our good friend Google has offered a good free alternative.
Google Docs beta can be found at http://docs.google.com.
Although Google Docs can’t compare to Microsoft’s overpowering features,
it does let you create documents complete with pictures, tables,
and hyperlinks. There is also upload features that recognize several
format such as Word, RTF, HTML, OpenOffice and PDF. There is more
to Google Doc than meets the eyes. For example, if you upload a
Word file with footnotes or endnotes, it displayed them correctly.
You can share doc files with
others and allow them to edit it. To ensure less edit conflicts,
a toolbar notifies you if someone else is editing a document at
the same time you are. Google Doc even saves revised copies of your
file every few seconds. A convenient button lets you compare two
earlier versions, with the differences highlighted by color-coding
the text.
Google Docs can also do spreadsheets
such as excel. It supports hundreds of functions and multiple sheets,
and I believe its interface looks refreshingly clean compare to
excel. I haven’t had the opportunity but it allows up to 50 people
to work on the same file simultaneously. You can import Excel spreadsheets
up to 500KB and export it out to Excel, OpenOffice, and PDF formats.
Google Doc is a great alternative
to Microsoft Word & Excel. However, it does require internet
access. With more and more wifi hotspot increasing, this might not
be a problem for anyone. Google is also working on an application
called Google Gears which would allow you to take the documents
offline. There are other online word processor such as Zoho Writer,
ThinkFree Office, and Ajax Writer. They have some convenient features
but most are bug-ridden with a slow and bulky feel to it. For now,
if you are looking for online counterparts to Word & Excel,
Google Docs is leetspeak’s first choice. Please feel free to submit
any questions and comments you may have.
Gregg
leetspeak07@gmail.com
| Hello and welcome to our first question and answer email. We have quite a few responses and here are
two we would like to share from our readers. |
Rezidor asks: I got a new 22 inch widescreen lcd but it looks worse
then my 17 inch. I ran the auto adjust on the screen but it still
doesn’t look as clear.
 LeetSpeak: Congrats on the new 22 lcd
it should actually look great. You may
want to check the display settings. If
you’re using XP right on the desktop;
choose Properties, then Settings. (or
Personalize in Windows Vista )
Increase the resolution of your monitor
to the specification in your manual
but it generally the max for your screen
setting. If you can’t increase resolution
and color quality, click Advanced, Adapter. If Standard VGA Adapter or another generic adapter is listed, download a driver
specific to your PC. Click apply and you should see the difference
if it is clear click ok to save the settings. Enjoy!
Copal asks: All my folders show large icons! How do I change it?
LeetSpeak: In Windows XP right click in Windows explorer and select
the view (ex: Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List, Details) Then click
Tools, Folder Options. Click the View tab, then Apply to All Folders
(Apply to Folders in Windows Vista). Hope this helps out.
Thanks again and don’t hesitate to ask us any tech issues or
possibly thinking about purchasing a new piece of technology
(ex: computer, cellphone, gps, ..etc) We would love to review a
product or help find the right one. Just email us at Leetspeak07@gmail.com! |
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