
xiv
There are some downsides too. Microsoft (among others who provide ofce suites), although not
a leader in searching, has immense experience in desktop applications. Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook,
and others are feature-rich, and thanks to the advanced desktop model, the interface can support
many tricks and niceties that are still hard to emulate in the browser.
Google can certainly be expected to expand their tools over time. But today, almost universally
across applications, Microsoft Ofce wins when it comes to the sheer quantity of features.
There’s a long tradition in computing that when there’s
a missing feature, you apply a hack to make the program do what you want. After all, software—
the desktop model, or the new online model—is supposed to do the work for you, not the other
way round.
In Google Apps Hacks, we’ll be presenting you with a wide array of hacks that guide you through
getting more out of this new application suite. From easier workarounds (how do I attach a Google
document to an email?), to more advanced tips (how do I skin my Gmail client?), to programming
guides (how do I use the importXml function in my spreadsheet?). We’ll also introduce the more
exotic programs of the Google apps suite, like Google Notebook, and provide you with approaches
to apply to your projects. Google apps, it turns out, have their own “13 minute ...