Mountain View, California-based Web search leader Google has added the ability to use its free word  processing software Google Docs without an Internet connection, the company announced Monday, placing it in direct competition with Microsoft staple Word. Users of Google Docs who install a Web browser extension called Google Gears will be able to edit word processing documents whether online or not, making it possible to seamlessly work with the Google service while traveling from locations with Internet access to those where no connection is available, the leading Internet company said. Rolls Out Beginning Immediately With Monday's announcement a select group of Google Gears users will begin seeing the offline features, which will be rolled out to all users over the next several weeks, according to Google Docs software engineer Philip Tucker writing on the project's blog. "We'll be rolling it out over the next few weeks, starting today with a small percentage of users," said Tucker. Google Gears uses either the Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer browser to control the new Google Docs offline features. While it has been possible to work offline with word processing documents created in Google Docs, it involved a largely cumbersome and time-consuming process of cutting and pasting between Google's online application and a desktop word processing program, and then back again - a process not needed with the new Google Gears features announced Monday. "I want to minimize context switching between apps," Tucker noted. "Cloud computing is great, but you need the cloud to make it work. On an airplane, on the shuttle commuting to work, or at home when my cable modem goes down, I want to work on my documents. And, until now, that usually meant saving a copy and editing on the desktop," added Tucker. Users who edit a word processing document in Google Docs can now continue working as they move in and out of locations with varying degrees of Internet connectivity, as the Google application temporarily stores changes on a user's local computer, and automatically senses when the connection is restored and synchronizes the files with Google's online servers. Google Apps is Google's online suite of productivity software, with Google Docs serving as the firm's word processing program. "I don't have to remember to save my documents locally before packing my laptop for a trip," noted Tucker. "I don't have to remember to save my changes as soon as I get back online. And I don't have to switch applications based on network connectivity," he added. A Direct Challenge To Microsoft Word The release signals Google's strongest challenge yet to Microsoft's desktop software dominance. During the past year both Microsoft and Google have begun offering products aimed at making it easier to work both  online and offline using productivity software including spreadsheet, presentation, email and calendar programs. Microsoft has entered the market with its Silverlight technology, while Adobe has released its AIR platform, both of which compete with Google Apps. Silverlight is a browser plug-in that competes with Adobe products such as Flash and Apple QuickTime and is available for both Windows and Apple Macintosh computers. Microsoft Product Manager on the Web Platform and Tools team Brian Goldfarb described Silverlight recently as "a cross-browser, cross platform plug-in that will usher in a new generation of media experiences and applications on the Web." Google sees the release of its Google Docs offline functionality as one step towards a more integrated environment where the line between online and offline software use is thin. "This is still early days. We're working to make more Web applications and functions work where connections are unavailable," Google said in a recent statement. Google expects future updates to offer similar offline functionality to additional Google Apps software including presentation and spreadsheet applications. "It will also be available to Google Apps users soon," Tucker wrote in the blog entry, noting also that offline access is presently available only in the English language version. "We're working on offline access in other languages," Tucker added. Google Feature Competes Directly With Microsoft Word, Online Or Not Google Gears, which was launched some 15 months ago, allows programmers to build offline functionality into their programs, a feature some companies have already taken advantage of. Zoho, the maker of an online word processing program called Zoho Writer, has implemented the Google Gear offline code, as have other Google applications, such as news feed reader Google Reader. Even giving its online applications away free has not made Google Docs a household term yet, as a recent survey by Port Washington, New York-based research firm NPD Group Inc. revealed. The survey showed that 73 percent of 600 United States computer users had never tried a Web-based office productivity suite. Google may be hoping to increase awareness of its Google Apps suite, which was released in late 2006, with top company executives Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt missing few opportunities to mention the application suite during recent months. While Google has not released an exact figure showing how many people use Google Docs, it has acknowledged the figure to be "in the millions," with more than half a million businesses using Google Apps. In 2007 Google brought in $16.4 billion from its core online advertising business, while revenue from its software licensing and other products totaled a relatively small $181 million. Income from Google Apps accounted for less than 2 percent of the $4.8 billion the search giant took in during the fourth quarter of 2007. Related Links:
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10:14 pm on April 1, 2008 (utc 0)