Google updates presentation application, still falls short

You can't expect a product to transform into something amazing overnight, but the set of "updates" made recently didn't make any drastic improvements to the already less-than-spectacular service.

The new features include:

• Selecting a background image or color
• Organizing and reordering slides
• Duplicating slides
• Copying and pasting slides

Great, but who cares? I'm not suggesting Google needs to incorporate every feature of PowerPoint -- look at Google Talk, it has a fraction of the features found in traditional IM clients, but it could still step up and compete with the rest.

What makes Google Presentations different then? Why am I picking on this product and not Google Talk? Well, it comes down to the features that are missing. The reason Google Talk could get away with only having a tiny subset of the most common functionality found in other clients is because the features omitted were annoying or unneeded to most people. Google Presentations is all but useless for practical purposes (most of which are business related) because the features you can't find are useful and necessary.

I would love to hear what you think about Google Presentations. What features do you love, hate, and miss? Have you used the product for anything other than "testing it out"?

[Thanks Mariano!]