31–40 of 53 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, it's not as if Google could abstract or overload the export function.
Easier said than done. As a general principle, existing features introduce maintenance and create drag when adding new features, so they better be worth it.
The reason to support .xls is that lots of other software besides Microsoft office use it and thus lots of people benefit from compatibility.
Given that there's no further development happening at Microsoft on the DOC, XLS, and PPT formats it's unclear to me why there's any advantage to Google, from a code maintenance standpoint, to removing these formats. If Google was having to invest labor in maintaining the export functionality I suppose I could understand, but I would think the export code is long-since debugged and working. What makes the cost of mai…
Also worth noting that the article has since been updated to clarify that it's only the 97-2003 format which has been dropped. Export to 2003-2007 .doc .xls and .ppt formats are still supported. Plus from the way it's phrased it seems like import from 97-2003 formats will still be supported, you just can't export them that way.
Given that there's no further development happening at Microsoft on the DOC, XLS, and PPT formats it's unclear to me why there's any advantage to Google, from a code maintenance standpoint, to removing these formats. If Google was having to invest labor in maintaining the export functionality I suppose I could understand, but I would think the export code is long-since debugged and working. What makes the cost of mai…
So even though the format isn't changing, the subset of the format that Google works with is.
nooooo..... I still use word 97 on my windows 7 laptop as it does everything I need (even in 2012!). Office is just to fancy nowadays and takes up to much space - I got my word 97 install to 10 megs. Oh well - rtf it is then.
Have you tried Open/LibreOffice? I also find the latest versions of office too flashy, and the open-source alternatives much smaller and simpler.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also worth noting that the article has since been updated to clarify that it's only the 97-2003 format which has been dropped. Export to 2003-2007 .doc .xls and .ppt formats are still supported. Plus from the way it's phrased it seems like import from 97-2003 formats will still be supported, you just can't export them that way.
Okay, linkbait headline, then.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Googles ability to copy formulas across cells and automatically adjust them relative to their new postion is weak compared to Excel. Basic patterns work, but if you are doing anything complex, Google just doesn't do it. Also, Google's formating possiblities are very limited compared to Excels. I run into this limitation frequently. There are numerous other restraints I come up against with Google Sheets occasionally,…
If you have any examples handy of the kinds of formula copying or formatting you're talking about, I'd love to hear them.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, it's not as if Google could abstract or overload the export function.
Easier said than done. As a general principle, existing features introduce maintenance and create drag when adding new features, so they better be worth it.
I think this is a big mistake for Google.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
especially the spreadsheets Can you expand on that? (I work in this space.)
Googles ability to copy formulas across cells and automatically adjust them relative to their new postion is weak compared to Excel. Basic patterns work, but if you are doing anything complex, Google just doesn't do it. Also, Google's formating possiblities are very limited compared to Excels. I run into this limitation frequently. There are numerous other restraints I come up against with Google Sheets occasionally,…
Considering Office costs me less than 10GBP a month over 3 years, and works entirely offline, Google docs doesn't cut it.
We need a real competitor to google docs, especially the spreadsheets.
LibreOffice. It's old-school local app though, not cloud. There are several other Free Software tools that will provide spreadsheet compatibility, Gnumeric being among my favorite. Also the KDE office suite, KOffice.