"There are plenty of of gadgets you can add to extend
functionality."
I don't think most people use Google Docs for the
gadgets. Most of them probably replicate functionality
that already exists in office and many of them may
hurt document portability.
"Create, open, upload, edit, convert, download - all
from the single Apps interface."
Yeah, basically the same as 2010's "File" screen.
"Yeah, yeah, this is what gets you the Wordpad-style
ruler."
I'm amused that Google makes it a configuration
option, while in Word hiding and showing it is as easy
as clicking an icon above the vertical scrollbar.
"It's a stripped down interface, but is it everything
that 95% of users need to create a presentation?"
I'd say no. Out of all of the applications in Google
Docs, their presentation app is the weakest. They
don't really have slide transitions or animations,
which are a large part of professional presentations.
If you're a college kid wanting to make a quick and
dirty presentation for a class, it may work fine.
But if you're a professional looking to make a
presentation that is clear and has a lot of impact and
really convinces people - there's no way I'm going
with Google.
"And in the cloud besides for easy remote
presentation, sharing, interaction, etc?"
According to Microsoft, it's reasons #4 and #5 to get
PowerPoint:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/powerpoint/default.aspx
"What are your users producing? Prose, text, and
notes, or highly-formatted documents?"
All of the above, and Office handles all just fine
.
"Google Spreadsheets is increasingly rich in its
features set:??*Forms improvements?*Solver
improvements?*Improved image integration?*Linear
equation modeling tools?*Sheet-level permissions?
*Mobile editing"
Catching up to Office instead of surpassing it?
"Drawings, forms, word processing, spreadsheets, and
presentations, along with storage, all in the cloud."
File -> Share
Same thing.
"It's in the cloud - it's cooler than Wordpad, no
matter what the Microsoft folks say."
Yes, we should all buy based on coolness. Forget
productivity, it's old hat.
"Some OneNote functionality can be duplicated in Docs,
but OneNote itself is quite powerful with cloud
integration built in."
I'd love to see Google's handwriting recognition and
conversion of ink to equations. Or the most important
thing - the ability to click and start typing notes
anywhere on the page (which is basically one of the
single biggest reasons to use OneNote). Easy to
annotate presentations and take notes.
Google Docs is okay - but the only weakness Office
really had compared to Docs is the cloud stuff - and
with Microsoft adding sharing to their applications,
as well as webified versions, that gap is really
closing up in Office 2010.
