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Google to Test Web-Based Spreadsheet

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

June 5, 2006, 11:20 PM

Google plans to release a Web-based spreadsheet application Tuesday, which, when combined with its recent purchase of online word processor Writely, seems to indicate the company is about to mount a challenge to Microsoft's Office productivity suite.

However, Google is playing down the idea that the new beta project -- first reported by the Wall Street Journal -- is somehow a threat to Office's dominance, saying the two applications would be "complementary."

The Web based spreadsheet will not require any application to be installed on the user's computer, and documents created would be saved on Google's servers. Thus, a user could access the document from any computer with a Web browser. Up to 50 spreadsheets could be saved at one time, Google says.

Additionally, the application would allow multiple people to edit the spreadsheet simultaneously. All users would see changes as they were made, with an area available to chat if needed.

When saving, the user would have the option of either saving to an Excel-compatible or comma separated value (CSV) file. While the initial beta release is said to be quite rudimentary and only a few select users would gain access initially, Google will both refine the product and invite more testers in the coming months.

Google Spreadsheet will be accessible through Google Labs.

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By pnutster

edited Jun 18, 2006 - 11:53 PM

Google spreadsheet is a nice try on collaboration on basic spreadsheets. The app works quite fine for basic (because of Beta still small files) spreadsheet work, not for ingenious and difficult macros and alike. For those who are too impatient to wait for Google's invitation. It works by invitation.

You can get it running right away if you are invited. The same goes for Writely. Google's next baby but then in Word Texteditor format. Same applies here, get an invitation and get started right away.

Since posting a URL in comments is often seen as spam. I would like to state it is not meant as spam. It is to get people invited to Google Spreadsheet and/or Writely and not intended as spam.

For those who would like to receive an invitation for Google Spreadsheet and/or Writely, visit this page: http://pnut.kicks-ass.org/gsheet/

Thanks

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Jun 7, 2006 - 11:35 AM

Needs a few things:

Workbook / Multiple worksheets. (Found the add sheet button. Heh... Oops.)
Defined / named lists
Support for more formatting options for cells, such as fractions.

This is *very* basic. As such, it does well. Seems to support all sorts of nifty things like simultaneous editing by multiple parties, internal chat, and so on.

Looks good for collaboration. Nice preview of what they're working on. Definately not a replacement for Excel.

Score: 0

By nicolenoland

edited Jun 7, 2006 - 1:39 AM

I love goggle. the are so cutting edge and seem to think about what it's like to be a person who uses many different computers. Yes it isn't as secure, but when you're not really worried about security as much as convenience,it's not a problem

Score: 0

By templar™

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 6:02 AM

"it isn't as secure, but when you're not really worried about security as much as convenience,it's not a problem"

LOL. Is that a tongue in cheek comment? Bcos if it's not...... Well, that was what MS thought. And you know the kind of hell they have to go through.

Score: 0

By decloned

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 10:40 PM

I just recieved my invitation to Google Spreadsheet. It actually is pretty decent. The only drawback I see right now is that it is not fully integrated into Gmail like calendar is. A service that I haven't seen much on is the 'gmail for your domain' which I also activated today. A free gmail account at your own domain name (actually about 100 that you manage the users for the domain). You can even change the logo to your own!

Score: 0

By zridling

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 5:37 PM

You do realize that putting your data online is equivalent to putting your trash on the curb — the government has full access to it and can use it against you.

Oddly, Microsoft is smiling like a cat when people realize the inherent security advantage of having both app and data resident on the same home/business PC.

Score: 0

By ArabianNight

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 4:45 PM

Google Office. Google OS. Google Browser. Google EVERYTHING. I LOVE GOOGLE. I wonder if I can get one of those Caps with a fan on top and a Google logo...

Score: 0

By stuarti

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 3:26 PM

Google spreadsheet and wait for it Google office what a laugh will we get any more rubbish from this company. Stick to what u do best SEARCH

Score: 0

By AntiochMedia

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 12:02 AM

troll

Score: 0

By jas111

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 2:27 PM

This geek doesn't sneer at spreadsheets, just the poor plotting capabilities of Excel. What is so hard about set up a log axis that doesn't start at a integral power of 10?????

Score: 0

By ds0934

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 12:17 PM

Essentially, spreadsheets are those things that MBA's can't live without, but which geeks sneer at and usually recommend using a "real database" instead. MBA's mumble "smarta**", while the geek mumbles "dumba**" as they part ways near the coffee mess.

Score: 0

By ds0934

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 11:32 AM

I could care less where my app is as long as I can get at it when I need to... from anywhere I need to. If I can store and load data from a local source, fine. I don't pay for OpenOffice and MS-Office is WAY too pricey and bloated for my needs. Why should I expect to pay for something that could be easily hosted and available via the web? All this stupid paranoia about government snooping. Are you typing up instructions for making bombs, embedding child porn pics? Only people doing things they shouldn't do should worry about it.

Score: 0

By xyzcb1

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 11:20 AM

Honestly I don't see how this post a threat to MS office. Until this web base spreadsheet match the features offer in Excel, I doubt it will do much good. I mean, Lotus 123, and OO, and WP office are all comes with spreadsheet programs, and none can compete with Excel.

Score: 0

By Reap_r

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 10:03 AM

Yet one more step in the transition of the web from static content to database aware applications that are desktop neutral. I am all for this in general, I get that itchy feeling on the back of my neck that happens right before the black helicopters come when I think about this. All that data just sitting on google's servers....mmmm tasty treat for the government to sift through. It is just waiting to be grabbed. Makes my paranoid side really twitch.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 10:56 AM

Heh...

Until you realize the only stuff on there is what you *put* on there?

Or is the twitching just a medical condition?

*grin*

Score: 0

By Reap_r

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:36 PM

Don't know if it is medical. I can't go to the doctor or it may get in my medical record, then when the storm troopers search for twitchers in the medical records, I will be nabbed. Dang, it sucks being paranoid.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 2:39 PM

I guess.

Glad I'm not. My future looks blissfully clear or Storm Troopers. (Aside form the DVD variety, of course)

Score: 0

By wmichaelaustin

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 9:59 AM

With this news, I'm sure another chair is being thrown across the room at Microsoft...

Score: 0

By GCoder

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 9:42 AM

please release GOOGLE OFFICE!

MS Office is CRAP!

Score: 0

By stack10

edited Apr 14, 2007 - 3:00 PM

A bunch of MS office is a annoying (outlook comes to mind) but I find excel about the most useful program I use. It would also be useful to have a web version available that is free but I made a basic spread sheet just ot see if the google sheet worked - first thing I tried, sorting basically is useless because itonly sorts by single column for all columns - can't sort columns independently. Wow that is back to about 1978 spreadsheet functionality. Then I strated seeing some freakish things hapen w/ the sorting and I did a search and found these items are well known http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63tZmCtJcfM so I'm not holding out for google to be our saviour beyound search which they are the the best at. It is time Google steped up and supported releases instead everything is marked "beta" to make it "OK" to have bugs and limited features.

Score: 0

By templar™

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:20 PM

GCoder, do you even know what you are talking about?

If Writely (now owned by Google) is a preview of the things to come, "Google Office" is going to be a rudimentary version of an Office suite; a far cry from MS Office.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 9:07 AM

Writely was still in Beta when it was purchased, and Google has yet to work it's magic (if any) on it.

I'd withold judgement on the app until Google starts pimping it.

Score: 0

By xyzcb1

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 9:59 AM

Why loyal fans are such an idiot?

If you think it's CRAP, provide some value reason. Don't come out with reason it's a MS produce, therefore is crap.

Score: 0

By ds0934

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 11:34 AM

95 percent of MS-Office users typically use about 30% of the total list of features of Excel, or Word, or Outlook. So, you're paying a lot of $$ to use some of it. Dumb. Go buy a dinner for $500 and eat three bites and say it's a good deal.

Score: 0

By CMSTech

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:36 PM

You are correct on your first point, however out of those 95% each one uses a different 30% of the features then everyone else. So a program that has every feature you could possibly want and some you won't use is a great sell because different people will use different parts of it. So it isn't "dumb" to have a program with that much flexibility, everyone will find what they want in it.

To use your example, I might only like the potato from the meal, but you might like the corn. However if you knew 100% that the corn was going to taste exactly like you want it to then it would be worth the cost....

If OpenOffice or this Google product meets your needs, then so be it and you saved your money. However don't bash a software product just because *you* don't use more then 10% of it.

Score: 0

By r_franke

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 7:07 AM

Am I the only one who sees the freedom we have in operating our own software, owned and managed by ourselves, steadily slipping away? Doesn't anyone see the day when your private correspondence can be seized by any government entity, from a central server, without your knowledge or consent?

Score: 0

By AntiochMedia

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 12:08 AM

probably not, but Google offering online application software only adds another option. I don't see how anything is slipping away.

Google's spreadsheet app will likely allow opening xls files and csv files from within gmail -- which is nice if you aren't on a computer with compatible software or download privelidges.

also, your question ignores the fact that part of our government's job is enforcing privacy and writing laws for our rights. while our system is extremely flawed, there IS a reason that our nation's politicians are in an uproar over NSA policies and alarmed by this notion too.

Score: 0

By a7knight

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 7:04 AM

Sorry Google ... sounds like a good idea, but...

There is no way anyone can beat Office 2007. I have the beta version ... it is seriously awesome. Not comparable to anything else.

But, hey ... for all those people who dont have any type of spreadsheet processor, this is a great thing Google is doing.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 10:54 AM

If price has *anything* to do with it, a web-based office suite, tied with GMail, and GCal, might actually be used by small businesses in *place* of Office.

Score: 0

By CMSTech

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:38 PM

I agree for the home user/home based business, but this won't fly with most network admins... any proper admin will cringe at the thought of hosting user data on someone else's server outside of their control.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 2:37 PM

Depends on the Business. (And the fact that most small bsuinesses don't *have* and admin.)

;)

Just sayin'...

Score: 0

By CMSTech

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 8:52 PM

Agreed!

Score: 0

By rameshs

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 6:10 AM

Hi,

You might also want to try out Zoho Sheet, a similar application for online collaboration of spreadsheets.

http://zohosheet.com

We agree it is not yet close to its desktop equivelent, but we are trying hard to reach there and as well add lot of web-based features.

Regards,
Ramesh
http://blogs.zohosheet.com

Score: 0

By AntiochMedia

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 12:15 AM

Very nice app, Ramesh. I'm confident that you guys can use Google's entry into this arena to your advantage by capitalizing on where Google's app falls short, and perhaps offering branded website integration.

very nice job!

Score: 0

By gatekiller

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 5:33 AM

I think this new product is really good and I hope it support all of the functions that excel has.

As for Google taking over Microsoft, I'm not sure this will totally happen and I'm sure Microsoft will still be a much bigger player in the Market than Google.

I love using google's web based applications because I can access the same data anywhere, their light weight and simple to use. If I want somethings more complex, I shall open a Microsoft product like Outlook or Excel.

I welcome this "new" product when It comes out today.

AND WOULD PPL STOP REFERING TO THIS "WEB 2.0"!

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 9:21 AM

Dude...

Web 2.0 is just a much easier way of saying,

"The new standard to which many new and old websites are being created / updated which includes such technologies as AJAX javascript, ASP, and others."

See? Web 2.0 is much easier to type. ;) still doesn't mean anything solid, but it gives you an idea of what's being talked about.

Get used to it, it's the buzz-word for the 00'S.

Score: 0

By smittal4

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 4:48 AM

"Network is the computer". We are still away from that dream but are certainly moving in that direction. That is what scares the hell out of Microsoft.

Score: 0

By ds0934

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 12:19 PM

Why would it? They can sell something for server-hosted crap as well as desktop crap. What do you think they're doing with all the stupid "Live" stuff?

Score: 0

By crashoverride

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:34 AM

Yay!More Google trash. I swear Google is becoming more and more like Microsoft everyday.

Score: 0

By dwaterman

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 2:18 PM

I know what you mean... I really can't understand these companies that want to be successful. They have to be careful or elsethey will offer a good line of products, next thing you know they become more valuable, the stock holders will make a little money... yuck.

Score: 0

By stuarti

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:20 AM

Another Google piece of rubbish when will it end, is this company trying to turn into another Microsoft only time will tell, I would say 2 years before everyone wizens up to Google and there cheap attempt at software

Score: 0

By templar™

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:04 AM

The only problem is, current browser technology isn't really there yet to support really fast, rich & robust user experience.

We need another 3 years or so.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 9:18 AM

Have you *used* Writely? (AJAX Word Processor purchased by Google)

It's fast. It's not "feature-filled", but considering browser-cache and most folks connection-speeds, I don't see why it couldn't be.

Score: 0

By templar™

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 12:07 PM

Yeah, tried writely already. the speed is reasonable but not robust at all. once it screws up a little, no way to revert. i was working on a document with table, for some reason, it was buggy. the more i tried to fix it, the more messy it became. in the end, there was no way to even delete that table and redo.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 2:36 PM

I admit it's a tad buggy. It's also still beta. :P

That said, I'm still curious why you think it's 3 years off. Bandwidth, browser-cache, and the tech is all there. Google seems to have the motivation to get it done.

I really don't see how speed or robustness would be that much of a hurdle.

Score: 0

By templar™

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 10:44 PM

Currently, Ajax is still in its infancy. Most Ajax+DHTML+JSON apps that are beyond "sample code" require programming hacks because these are still treated as additional features to the browser rather than core features. There is too much coding required to come up with a useful "rich user experience" web-based app.

The bugs that I've seen in Writely are more because the features that they want to implement are simply not directly supported by the browsers rather than programming errors per se.

Until such time the browsers can treat these apps as first-class citizens, web 2.0 won't have a smooth ride. I think 3 years is the reasonable time for this to happen.

My $0.02. :)

Score: 0

By NWBird07

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 1:11 AM

How much faster do you need? what do we need the browser todo that it cant now? yes it will get better but for now its GREAT (firefox)!!!

Score: 0

By templar™

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 4:25 AM

Go try the handful of web-based "web 2.0"-based apps, such as writely, editgrid, google calendar, etc. You know that it still cannot come close to what we currently have on our desktop in terms of features, speed and robustness.

And while firefox is a great browser, it is just an "ok" browser for Ajax.

Score: 0

By AntiochMedia

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 12:17 AM

You're an okay browser for ajax unless you can qualify your claim about FF being 'just an ok browser for ajax'. kthxbye.

Score: 0

By templar™

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 4:59 AM

No browser can claim to have superb Ajax support because Ajax is an after-thought. JSON that goes hand-in-hand with Ajax is also an after-thought. Even with the numerous Ajax toolkits, it is still a pain to develop a good rich UI web-based app.

But if you must know FF's specific issues with Ajax, here are some:
1. FF does not ignore whitespaces if Ajax returns XML data.

2. Ajax calls go into limbo MUCH more frequently.

3. Several great IE HTML DOM features such as contenteditable, innerHTML, innerText, etc. are not fully supported by FF. These features make web development much easier.

I don't think I want to bore the readers with more of these stuff.

Score: 0

By Tenoq

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:14 AM

I daresay I need more than the maximum 1500/256kb connection currently available for an experience comparable to locally run software. :P

Score: 0

By strings28

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 11:55 AM

I think it is safe to say that Google will require a modern browser to be installed so you can't really say, "The Web based spreadsheet will not require any application to be installed on the user's computer." Sure it is nit picking but as a web developer it is key that you set browser expectations for dynamic applications like that.
Update: http://www.google.com/su.../answer.py?answer=40597

Score: 0

By NWBird07

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 12:42 AM

that is true, BUT, every OS comes with a Browser of some sort!

Score: 0

By NWBird07

edited Jun 6, 2006 - 12:07 AM

Its about time that someone stands up to the giant empire monster, "Microsoft". I know i use office and Windows but how many people can download it from any P2P. I hope google takes over Microsoft in this spreadsheet thing, it sounds like a great idea, and a really good idea for Businesses. I hope i get chosen to beta test this thing!!!

Score: 0

By Joe Dirt

edited Jun 5, 2006 - 11:53 PM

And so it begins... :-)

Score: 0

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