I sort of disagree, in my opinion, using a proprietary application for mere convenience is not worth it. You can get synchronization and cross platform access with many FOSS office suites like LibreOffice and ONLYOFFICE with an external could. As well as the Nextcould Colabora integration. I prefer to be independent of Google and Microsoft whenever possible.
Additionally I often find Office suites overused; tasks like note taking and script writing could easily be done using plain text editors or markdown editors which offer cross platform support far beyond any office suite. There is obviously nothing wrong with using the tools you like and are accustomed to this is just my opinion.
@bobhopper609 Says:
The only two things I really use are Sheets and Drive. I prefer Microsoft Word or Libreoffice for writing. The advantages I see using Sheets or Drive is that I can work on things from pretty much any device, anywhere.
@TrystansWorkbench Says:
We need another T-Shirt: "Let's take a closer look."
@DejanTesic Says:
On second thoughts... Google is evil. man. Time to migrate elsewhere.
@someuser4166 Says:
How'd you auto block your personal information like that?
@andrewwebb4635 Says:
If you like Google environment so much should you consider covering Chrome OS and ChromeBooks, please? Against my previous better judgement, I recently had to get to grips with a fairly decent ChromeBook and found it really excellent once past the initial unfamiliarity. It has that same approach of ‘provide what you need and no more’ and I really, really like the instant switch on. It also seemed a bit faster for easy common tasks with a Pentium than my desktop W10 with an i7.
I wasn’t doing any heavy tasks but for simple browsing and emails it seems to compete with an iPad at much lower price. It also gives a much bigger screen and is surely a far better bet than an iPad + keyboard/mouse if you want to create and edit documents and so on.
I was very pleasantly surprised once I’d got over my initial prejudice!
@Snorthington Says:
I'll admit I do like docs as a service but my unique issue is that i have none of the free data left because my phone kept syncing photos gobbling up my storage. Also I think it was quite shady how Google Photos offered free storage, then announced they would be charging users.
@fredrikangelsen Says:
Noticed recently that google docs offer markdown support for headings, bulletins, bold, italic, code blocks and code snippets. Love this feature 👍
@amilalakshan8849 Says:
Requesting a video on mac os the basics of it.
@gyorgybereg6916 Says:
It's weird to me that it was flawless for your! I used Google Keep because it wasn't that great for me, and I used (free, student version of) word to insert pictures print etc. Since I'm no longer a student, and I don't like Libre office at all, I give it an other go.
@majkapiotr Says:
Thank you for an informative video and a non-nonsense approach. Have a nice day!
@cdgonepotatoes4219 Says:
Google docs does have an oddly nice interface (and I say oddly because I'd expect it to be typical Google) and it's nice how you are certain everyone is able to open, read and edit the documents you make because it doesm't have its own file format. It's too bad for all the spying, otherwise I would use it for more serious things than note-taking and sharing, but then even the other serious alternative likes peeking at your documents
@oedenfield Says:
I still haven't been able to figure out how to use styles. I have done some major authoring in the past and often used defined styles for things like regular text, code, image captions, etc. This styling is all a very manual process on Gdocs while Microsoft Word makes this trivial (setup style once, and then apply to text as needed).
@smyrnian_ Says:
Being a privacy conscious person, I thought you would not want to give all your work to Google, especially when you regularly demonstrate Libre Office in your videos.,,
@thetechseven5542 Says:
10:35 Filipino
@Mozzer1945 Says:
Hello, I hadn’t thought about using google docs but having viewed your video a couple of times will start using them from now on. Great video as always. Thanks. Maurice from Malvern Uk.
@Charlesb88 Says:
One comment I wanted to make about your concern about using your local Google Drive sync folder for Google Docs backup is that backing up your Google Drive folder to secondary place beyond just Google Drive's Cloud is pretty easy. If you have a local backup solution such as Apple's Time Machine Backup or some similar backup solution on Windows or Linux that's creating incremental backups to a local external hard drive/SSD, TM (and similar software) then it can backup up your Google Drive folder locally so you'll be fine (make sure it isn't exclude from regular backups though).
In Linux or macOS you can always use cron to execute a script that copies the docs from your Google Drive folder to say a Microsoft One Drive, Dropbox, etc folder regularly as a belt and suspenders option. To safe space so you don't have to have multiple copies of very docs stored on your local drive, In Linux or macOS you can also create hard links to all the Google Doc files 9via the script) that creates copies of all the files in the other cloud storage's local folders but without using any more space on your local drive (See WIkipedia's Hard link article if you want to know how this feature works in Unix/Linux/MacOS). Warning: Don't use hard links with external or networked drives, only on the same local drive). With Unix/Linux hard links, if you delete the original from Google Docs then copy still remains in the other cloud storage folder backws up to the cloud. (You have to remember in this case to delete the local G.D. file in both cloud storage local sync folders if you truly want it gone for good from the cloud).
@Charlesb88 Says:
I use Google Docs (and Sheets) for most anything that's not too sensitive and for which I want to be able to easily access on any modern OS I use (MacOS, Windows 10, Linux, IOS/iPad OS, & Android). For more sensitive stuff, stuff that requires features not yet present in G.D., or for strictly offline use, I use LibreOffice (with Mac, Windows, and Linux). The one exception is for Keynote style presentations for which I have used Apple Keynote or LibreOffice ( I haven't tried Google Slides yet). It's nice with Docs and Numbers to have every G.D. document always readily available any computer device/OS so long as you have access to a modern web browser or have the IOS or Android app installed.
@Chris-op7yt Says:
apart from the excellent apple productivity suite, google docs is the next best thing. unfortunatelly opensource world has been faithfully replicating ms office bloatware, instead of getting the balance right for features.
@robertanthonybermudez5545 Says:
with the disorganise mess in displaying files the new google drive updated into, i would want to stay away from using google docs or any of their web based office productivity suite
@phatotis Says:
I would love to see an example of printing from Google Docs.
@ShizukanaEntertainment Says:
Is the notorious choreography of yours in the end of each episode also transcribed in Google Docs? =)
@QualifiedinChangingoil Says:
I’d say libre has a better feel and google is prolific profiling information for ads ect, and I was meaning to ask if you could do a duck duck go comparison to chrome ect
@1centimetre Says:
Google Docs only lets you save on Google Drive.
Apple iCloud Web and Microsoft Office allow you to bypass their own cloud products–iCloud and OneDrive and store it directly on DropBox or Box instead. A win for third-party choice. A good thing for sustaining open and competitive markets. You're not being locked in to one place.
@1centimetre Says:
It makes sense for Microsoft to keep their Office for Web similar to the traditional desktop apps. People who want to pay for Office do so for the features.
@hueywallop2461 Says:
Agree completely! Google’s spell and grammar checkers are more sophisticated & actually helpful. Plus, Google Docs have a rich library of searchable symbols, a useful equation editor, intuitive outline formatting, and full integration with their other apps. Oh, did I mention the price for all of this?
@stevea1708 Says:
I find the drive interface and ability to find files so annoying.
@Billinous Says:
The Live Document and Smart Chips are my best features for collaboration on Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.
I can easily write a report and include supporting documents as SmartChips so that the reader can easily open these documents without losing focus on the main document.
Live Documents where 30+ people work on the same file is quite excellent.
@muddkipp_1 Says:
are you a swiss army knife or a butter dish? my dad would say. i love the computer world, yes it is always exciting..
@Design_no Says:
The less interaction i have with google, the better.
@jeffmcneill Says:
Seems a bit mistaken to overlook the obvious privacy issues, and the fact that TANSTAAFL.
@itsme4206 Says:
Google Docs supremacy
@var67 Says:
You explain very well why you are a fan, so there's nothing wrong with that, but I found it quite disappointing that there is not one bit of critique. For example how Google knows and owns everything you do and is not shy about abusing their monopolies to the fullest extent possible.
@martinwilkinson2344 Says:
I use Google Docs occasionally but not routinely because i) I don't need to access my documents on multiple devices ii) as you said on your "5 most annoying things in computers" (I may be misquoting), I like my tools to work the same way each time I run them. iii) this may be a bit anal but I like to have control over my documents and don't want sensitive information on the cloud. iv) the niggling doubt that they will start charging once you're hooked in.
It's just horses for course and whatever works best for the way you work. I do have great sympathy for non-ribbon word processors, though! 😉
@johnrobertsmith9914 Says:
Thank you for sharing this Chris.
I've gone retro. I'm using an external USB SSD with Windows XP and all my old software. I'm still using Microsoft Office Pro 2003 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access). Modern Office no longer comes with the Access Database.
I have had no problems booting this with any of my modern Windows computers.
@quarteratom Says:
Google discriminates against people who can't give up their phone numbers and personal information.
@TheStevenWhiting Says:
Having used them. They are both shit. Having used them for several years back in 2015 roughly. Having to managing them as an admin is also a pain with no GUI tool, all has to be done with GAM, which, last time I looked, had a massive security issue. Downloading from Google Drive is also a pain in the arse.
@merbertancriwalli8622 Says:
1:00 You don't seen to talk about a spreadsheets much but as I spend most of my time there the lack of compatible macros is an issue
@TheElectronicDilettante Says:
Google docs is excellent for YouTube channels that focus on ECE. Especially when sharing schematics or other data rich documents. Informative video as always, thanks. A huge percentage of my Computer knowledge today can be directly traced back to the first of your videos I ever saw. Thank you for all you do to enlighten and elevate the masses.
-Jason Burchell( I took my name off my channel as I’m finally going to attempt to upload ECE , RF, SDR content and launch The Electronic Dilettante…blah, blah, blah) Thanks again!!
@Walkzz_minh Says:
The reason that I began to use Google Docs more than Microsoft Office is that they’re free and have instant saving into the cloud every single character so no more data loss from unexpected power cuts.
@malcontent510 Says:
I've use Google Docs for ~a decade in consulting my business--it's great. Thanks for pointing out the OCR functionality, as well as Ctrl + Space to remove formatting. 👍
@x91w Says:
How do I create a text box like I would in word? I like to constrain images in text boxes? If there is another better way please tell me
@user-bn5hg6ho2c Says:
Thank you to you, again, CB sir, for yet another brilliant #ExplainingComputers video! So brilliant and comprehensive a video for me that I am going to start actively using my Google-Drive account and #GoogleDocs! Kind regards, HT.
@gonefilming2020 Says:
I certainly like the Google suite of programs for their simplicity. But - it is cloud storage. Cloud storage in a country, that may be sporting some serious political instability come November.
"...the extend, to which Google backs up user data, is very hard to verify." Why anyone would store unencrypted important or perhaps sensitive or corporate information there or with any other cloud service escapes me. Google's "Advanced Protection Programme" requires a hardware key and is not a quick implementation for the average Joe, that would like added security.
Sorry Chris, I'll stay with lokal word processing, lokal backups and offline storage at a friend's house. Cryptomator and Vera are my closest friends.
@lauriesherlock4841 Says:
@SnowyRVulpix Says:
I wouldn't mind google docs if it output in a standard format. Sadly it doesn't. So i use Microsoft 365
@CptDallas Says:
Docs is GARBAGE
@DavidWilliams-gn3og Says:
Love seeing the Gemini in the video. Any chance of a video showing how you use the Gemini in 2024?
@DeeDeeCHAUNCEY Says:
You should be using/promoting Firefox or another non-Chromium browser.
@0_1_2 Says:
Aren’t you concerned about google being all up in your business?
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