Google Cloud Connect Launched for Public Release [Google Cloud Connect Lets Microsoft Office Users Sync Documents with Google Docs; Is Google Challenging Microsoft in Office Dominance?]

Posted on TFTS by J. Angelo Racoma on Sunday, 27. February 2011 under: Internet Highlights, Net Resources

If you use different computers at work and at home, or if you’re a frequent traveler, you would love the idea of being able to synchronize your documents for access wherever you are. Google’s Cloud Connect does just that. And it’s out of beta!

Google has just released Cloud Connect for general public use, and we can say that it’s a pretty interesting piece of software. Cloud Connect is a plugin for Microsoft Office that lets you sync your documents directly with Google Docs. No need for uploading, downloading and re-uploading. Just save your Word, Excel or Powerpoint document it gets synced via Google Docs.

What’s great with this plugin is that you can use either Microsoft Office and Google Docs to edit the file. This means you don’t have to be stuck with a computer running Office to edit your documents.

The system has been in beta for some time now, but Google has announced general release. It seems Google wants to challenge Microsoft directly in the Office apps space. Microsoft actually has a similar service in the works–Office 365. The problem is that while both are cloud-based services, Office 365 is a paid service, while Google Docs is free.

Source

Richard
Good old google, but I have found “dropbox” a good solution to keeping all my computers in sync. Nice touch being able to edit in either MS Office or Google Docs. Wonder how long until google offers to Sync your “dropbox” files.
ldsconvert
Lame! Not Mac supported.
http://racoma.net J. Angelo Racoma
I use Dropbox, too, which I use to sync my docs and files on five computers. However, the Google Docs solution is great if you want the capability to edit docs from within a web browser. Also, the sync solution works both ways. If someone editing the doc online saves the file, the desktop version is also changed on-the-fly. This way, two or more people can collaborate on a document simultaneously (just like in Google Docs web).