Google docs, have you tried them?

Lately, when I need a spreadsheet, I don't bother firing up Excel-- it takes FOREVER to load on my computer, and I don't need a powerful spreadsheet program at home. Instead, I use google's spreadsheet program. It's not fancy, but it is free, and it does everything I need (though I wish it graphed-- I don't need to graph, but I LIKE to graph, I'm a geek). As an added perk, anything I put in a google spreadsheet is available on any computer with access to the web, and can easily be shared with others.

There are some privacy concerns-- since any data in a google document is stored on someone else's computer, and passed over the internet, I won't be making a spreadsheet of social security numbers or bank accounts. But it's fine for most of the reasons I make spreadsheets.

Google also offers a word processing program--- it would be ideal for collaborative writing, and it could easily put together a presentable resume or term paper. It has fewer options for making a more creative document, but, realistically, how many of us need to do that? I am writing this post using it, but getting the "publish" option work correctly was tricky-- I have two blogger blogs, and until I got the title exactly right (including matching the case of the letters) it insisted on posting it to my personal blog (the one I set up first). All in all, it does seem to be a better editor than blogger's default editor.

Given that Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 is selling for $129 on Amazon, a free alternative is very attractive, especially for those of us who don't need all the bells and whistles.