Google "Office" Released

pumpknhd writes "Looks like Google has finally integrated Writely and spreadsheets into Google "Docs & Spreadsheets". Writely.com now redirects to this new location. The design has also changed to match the look of other Google services." The more "applications" I try forcing into a tabbed web MDI model under a Mac, the more clumsy it gets. They aren't in my Dock, they can't be apple-tabbed through. Issues like this really frustrate me as I find myself wanting to use more web2.0 ajaxy fancy pants programs.

Comments

"Frusterate"?

[adavies42]

Are you even trying anymore?

Re:Goffice?

[Rob T Firefly]

As possible names go, I think "Goofice" would be more gallant.

Re:Not support Safari browser

[rozz]

Google is not friendly to Mac users.

i just sensed a sudden disturbance in TheForce ... sounded like 98% of the computer users got together in sayin "so what"? ;)

Re:LaTeX

[DragonWriter]

I'd actually argue that setup is generally more of a layout program with some word processing features. MS Word is not intended for exacting layout, LaTeX is. If you want exacting layout, you should compare LaTeX to tools designed to do that.

The main advantage I find in my use for LaTeX over Word isn't exacting layout (yeah, its better at that than Word, too, though that's rarely all that important to me), but in ease of describing, perceiving, and maintaining structure when working with documents.

Ahh, but LaTeX is not the most common markup tool used.

That hardly matters if the purpose is to compare LaTeX in specific to WYSIWYG editing environments in common use.

You can compare MS Word and OpenOffice Writer because they are designed for the same thing.

You can meaningfully and usefully compare any tools that are, or even can be, used for the same purpose, regardless of what they are designed for.

LaTeX was designed to layout books. MSWord was not.

Yes, and yet some people use MSWord to layout books, so they can certainly be compared for that purpose. And people use LaTeX for lots of the things MSWord is used for that are not laying out books, too, and they can therefore be compared for all those purposes, as well, regardless of which was "designed for" which purpose.

Comparing it to Framemaker or Quark or InDesign is a lot more appropriate.

If the context is "comparing tools for laying out books without regard to cost", then yes, I'd agree.

Most users are incapable of finding and installing a LaTeX environment.

I doubt that any user who learns of LaTeX is incapable of learning how to install, say, ProTeXt, in a few minutes, but even so, unless you are talking about a home environment, there is no need, in most environments, for every user that would use LaTeX to find and install a LaTeX environment. I really have no idea what point you think you are making here.

LaTeX is quite simply painful for certain tasks, especially for graphics because graphics do not fit well into the markup model.

Graphics are not a task. If you mean "editing graphics", then sure, LaTeX isn't an editor at all, and certainly not a graphics editor. If you mean placing graphics in a document, it seems to me it depends a lot on what you want to do with the graphics. But, yes, lots of tasks related to that are not the kind of things where the model of structure-to-appearance that LaTeX uses is particularly helpful for (OTOH, other tasks with graphics fit quite well with that model.)