Google Docs to get 'shiny new' interface

Older users

This is the sort of thing that creates barriers to acceptance of online docs. Sometimes people don't want to have to re-learn a user interface they've already learnt the first time, they just want to get one and write their documents. People who didn't like the new Office 2007 ribbon interface, because the Bold button wasn't where it used to be, at least had to opt to install it or stick with the Office XP interface they knew and loved. But with online apps you are forced to work to the app provider's timetable instead of your own. At best they have a button to revert to the older interface but it's still an opt-out mechanism and ultimately they aren't going to want to maintain both interfaces forever so you'll be forced into the change eventually.

I'm thinking primarily of people like my mother, who have to have the toolbars locked to make sure they don't accidentally get dragged to a different place on the screen otherwise they can't find their usual buttons any more. And people who don't view their work as a continuous journey of discovery.

Not Entitled

Google Docs was originally designed, in part at least as a shot over Microsofts bow ‘stay away from our business model or else’. Now Microsoft’s making a full frontal assault with Bing and making some minor progress, the gloves are off and the knives are out.

Hopefully we’ll see the two Galleys line up and the tech giants blow each other to smithereens. Expect the two companies to continue lobbing multi-billion dollar grenades at each other in the form of ChromeOS, Azure, Yahoo advertising partnership deal thing etc, etc...

hapless

My Google Docs has never worked properly. Maybe this'll fix it... by Christmas

Office 2010 web has a killer feature...

The killer feature of the Office 2010 web apps is that they can be hosted in house, which is a real boon for a lot of companies. Look at the twitter/google apps fiasco to see that having stuff in the cloud, whilst convenient, isn't always the best option (and don't give me the line that users should choose stronger passwords - we've been trying to change user behaviour for 20 years and we need to accept it isn't going to happen).

I can see a lot of companies worried about misappropriation of trade secrets flocking to Office in droves, and then the hosted version can mop up the home users who want things easily accessible. They could put them behind a VPN with 2 factor security (RSA token or similar) to give secure remote access.

@Phil 33

".....flocking to Office in droves...."

Er, they've already flocked there and I think we're beyond droves and well into hordes. 90% market share, remember? What it's supposed to do is stop 'em buggering off somewhere else more cloudy when the tech column of the Financial Times says it's The Next Big Thing.