According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Google will release a Web-based spreadsheet application Tuesday. It will first be available on a limited basis (i.e., some sort of beta). Microsoft is well aware and continues to invest in its own on-line services. Traditional desktop software (which is among Microsoft’s most profitable divisions) must change.
Update: Click here for Google’s Sneak Peak, and read on for more details…
The New York Times claims that, “…while it [Google Spreadsheet] can read and create files in the format used by Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet program, it is not compatible with many of that program’s more powerful features.” The article goes on to explain that users will be able to edit the same document [spreadsheet] simultaneously.
News.com explains that Google Spreadsheets “…supports the import and export of documents in the .xls format used in Excel and the .csv (comma-separated values) format. Also, it looks like a Google account is required to use Google Spreadsheets. And lastly, “The service provides automatic saving, so once a document is saved for the first time it is saved upon every change, as well as enables easy transfer of data from cell to cell, inserting and deleting of rows and columns and supports multiple sheets or tabs.”
Reuters states that Google Spreadsheets simultaneous sharing limitation is ten users. The article also talks about Google Spreadsheets’ possible intergration with Google Base.
One question unaswered: Why no creative name? Google Spreadsheets?
