Google Docs Offline Now Live?

I was in Google Docs today and noticed a new menu item as I was closing my browser tab. Looks like Google gears is getting put to use.

Google docs offline

After clicking on the offline tab (menu item above) the steps below followed

google docs offline install

google docs

After agreeing to the terms and the install, Google Docs does a scan for new documents much like programs like Picasa do.

They were even kind enough to create a desktop shorcut for me

google-docs-offline-3.gif

There was a message near the top of the screen stating that Google was synchonizing my documents. The message disappeared when complete. That is it, Big Brother is officially in my system!

Once complete, there is an “online” indicator in my browser much like what you might be used to seeing in Gmail when someone who is in your contacts list is online.

google docs im online

The offline experience is nearly identical.  There is hardly a difference in speed use, etc.  It runs right through my browser just as the online Docs do.  Pretty seamless.

docs offline

What are your thoughts about the desktop war? Is it on with the OS? Is Android the a foray into the OS space? If you were building an OS today, would you start with something big and clunky, or would you create a super thin platform and open it up to developers? Say… a cell phone O.S. for starters??

The battle has been on for a while. Microsoft must be pulling their hair out! Well, not Ballmer, but others.

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