back to article Google gives Microsoft office an awkward hug with new plugin

Google's given Microsoft Office an awkward hug by refreshing Drive so it plays nice with desktop applications. Drive is Google's share 'n' sync offering and integrates tightly with its apps: drop a document into Drive and you can read or edit it in the Docs in-browser word processor. That tool's not to everyone's tastes and …

  1. P. Lee

    Integrated Desktop and the Cloud? Oooh!

    Like KIO? I'm sure gnome has an equivalent too, sshfs if you want to go lower in the stack.

    OpenOffice did native FTP for load/save years ago (then inexplicably lost the facility).

    Its nice that it works, but by "cloud" they mean, "file-server" right?

    1. bazza Silver badge

      Re: Integrated Desktop and the Cloud? Oooh!

      File server is indeed what they mean. Not such a revolutionary idea. But never under estimate the power of new jargon to 'invent' new technology...

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Web apps suck

    They're just horrible to use :(

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Encrypted Docs

    I use Libre Office with Google Drive normally which handles encrypted docs just fine. Google Docs can't open them - which seems daft.

    1. 1Rafayal

      Re: Encrypted Docs

      sorry, are you complaining that Google Docs cannot open a document that has been encrypted in Libre?

      Should it even be able to do that?

  4. a well wisher

    Not related to / prompted by the recent Microsoft / Dropbox tie up then ?

  5. cambsukguy

    Confused

    OneDrive has a program, for Windows at least, that maintains a copy of the files in the OneDrive cloud on the local machine. Any folders not desired locally may be excluded (well, directories on the Win7 version, WIn8 is integrated wholly to the file level I think).

    The folder appears identical to other folders in every way except that anything which changes, at either end is reflected soon after at the other end.

    Ergo, when using 'cloud' files, there is never a need to actually operate within the browser (unless you have no office tools locally and need to use the web tools of course).

    Surely Google have one too? if not, adding the ability to make the browser better for making the files seem local is something but hardly as good.

    The benefits of having the files locally are many and manifest: They are an effective backup (or the cloud ones are, depending on your point of view). They are accessible faster and they are available when there is no network. They remain accessible from other devices due to their cloudiness.

    Another feature of OneDrive, possible extremely useful to those away from their PC is that all the files on the PC are available via the OneDrive web page should the user enable the feature.

    This is surely a no brainer. I get the requirement if you are using a Chromebook since there may well not be a local app and no local drive for a copy, not too mention the likelihood that the local space is too small for a copy of the cloud stuff.

    1. Tom Samplonius

      Re: Confused

      "Surely Google have one too? if not, adding the ability to make the browser better for making the files seem local is something but hardly as good."

      Yes, the Google Drive app.

      "Another feature of OneDrive, possible extremely useful to those away from their PC is that all the files on the PC are available via the OneDrive web page should the user enable the feature."

      Wow... you have to enable this? Incredible. Dropbox and Google Drive have this enabled by default. So I guess +1 for them? I wonder, if you have ever used any non-Microsoft software?

      1. jonathanb Silver badge

        Re: Confused

        Dropbox and Google Drive sync the entire folder. I believe the OneDrive feature he's referring to is something where you can selectively chose which documents you wish to cache, but still have all the documents appearing in the folder. Not available on my Windows 7 copy of OneDrive, but I read about it here.

  6. jabuzz

    Not Free

    If you have to have a Office 365 subscription and are therefore forking out money to get your "unlimited" OneDrive space then it is by definition not free but part of a the Office365 subscription. I am surprised the ASA has not called them out on that.

    1. Ossi

      Re: Not Free

      Do Microsoft claim 'free' storage? The article called it that, but I'm not sure that Microsoft do. Certainly the Microsoft store doesn't use the term.

      Regardless, 'free' is often understood to mean 'included in the price' as in 'free delivery' or 'free support'.

  7. CRConrad
    Facepalm

    Was this really new in Novenmber 2014?

    Eh, what? I just can't... Were you saying this was new when the article was published -- that Google Drive has been able to sync to a local folder for less than a year?!? (As of this post, end of July 2015.)

    And here I could have sworn I've been merrily editing away on the same Word docs in my GDrive folder on different computers since... Eh, at least 2011 or so.

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