21–30 of 230 posts
It's still proprietary software. Why would I use this instead of Libreoffice?
It's still proprietary software. Why would I use this instead of Libreoffice?
For work: we use google spreadsheet for a lot of different status reporting. Allowing multiple people to edit it at once (and view all the changes immediately) can be really nice for certain use cases.
"works offline" ... in Chrome only!
From what I can tell this requires a Chrome app from the Chrome Web Store. So it is not standard HTML5 stuff. Does Google intend to fully support non-Chrome browsers? This behavior seems to show otherwise.
Using a native rich application is always going to be superior to building a web app on top of a browser. Once you're used to real applications, Gmail and the other apps aren't suitable for anything more than light usage. It's not just the features that are missing, it's UI responsiveness and usability. Hosting an application inside a browser is so awkward in ways that real applications aren't. I can't assume I can right click and get anything useful, I don't know if I'm going to get the browser's menu or the app's. The concept of a consistent menu bar you can access with hotkeys is gone. Online/offline will never be seamless and consistent across apps. And the input lag is intolerable.
Having all of my documents stored centrally is a real, but small, convenience to get in exchange for everything that's given up. And as far as cost goes, I'd prefer that any money my company might be saving be deducted from my paycheck if it would mean they'd get off of Google apps.
The lack of this feature kept me using Excel when my collaborators complained about stale status colors.
I'll have to give it a test drive again soon.
Offline is awesome; obviously because it means it works anywhere, but also I presume this means that all formula evaluation is now done locally, i.e. "instantly". I am pretty sure that before the server was involved in (some?) recalculation, which caused sluggishness.
I still find it bizarre that the actual files still aren't synced in the google drive desktop app. Instead they are synced and stored in the browser. I'm assuming this means you have to go into the browser and get the latest versions before you go offline, rather than the desktop app keeping you in sync. The desktop app really feels neglected, like it's a checkbox feature to compete with Dropbox.
Currently the solution is this: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/44684?hl=en
Eg, to add 30 rows, select 30 random rows, no matter what they are, as long as your selection is 30 high. Then you right click the row area, you get the option to insert 30 rows.
Who does UX for these products? Surely this didn't test well?
It's still proprietary software. Why would I use this instead of Libreoffice?
Because web? Can I open my LibreOffice documents from a new machine without even installing an app? Obviously there are reasons to use LibreOffice, like you said. But don't try to pretend there's no reason to use Google's office suite over LibreOffice.
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Using_LibreOffice_in_a_W...
I'm at my first company that uses Google apps and it's been a bad experience. There's so much about email and calendaring that Outlook/Exchange got right that it's hard to be without it after taking it for granted. Using a native rich application is always going to be superior to building a web app on top of a browser. Once you're used to real applications, Gmail and the other apps aren't suitable for anything more t…
Among the many problems I have with the Microsoft suite, Outlook is at the top of my list for generating the most frustration. GMail's priority inbox and new-style inbox where machine learning is used to sort out mail is a productivity booster for me. With Outlook, I regularly lose important mail because it is buried under the difficult to filter masses of other email.
I could go on about how the lack of robust collaboration facilities are a direct time waster for my team, but I don't want to hijack this thread further...