William Computer Blog

First look at Google Spreadsheets

On 6 June 2006, Google launched a new web-based spreadsheet application called Google Spreadsheets. Google Spreadsheets allows people to create, open, share, edit spreadsheet right from their web browser. It is currently open to a limited number of people, if you’re interested you can take a sneak peek at the tour page and leave your e-mail address to try the product.

Interface

Google Spreadsheets interface looks just like any other spreadsheet software (Excel, Calc). When you open Google Spreadsheets, you will see a blank spreadsheet document and start working immediately.

On the top of Google Spreadsheets, there are four menus: File, Save, New spreadsheet and Open a spreadsheet. Under the file menu, you’ve got a few sub-menus: Save, New, Open, Save as…, Download as .xls, Download as .csv, Get HTML, Upload new version, Rename, Delete, and Close.

Tabs

Above the working area, you’ve got three tabs: Format, Sort and Formulas. On the right side of the tabs there are 5 buttons: Cut, copy, paste, undo and redo.

The format tabs allows you to apply to format your data such as bold, underline, italics, font color, cell color, font family, and font size. You can also change your cell alignment, merge cells, wrap text, insert or delete rows and columns.

The sort tab allows use to “Freeze Rows”, which allows you to select up to 5 rows at the top of the current sheet which will remain at the top. You can also sort your data in an ascending (A - Z) or descending order (Z - A).

According to Google, Google Spreadsheets supports over 200 formula functions. The Formulas tab gives you access to common spreadsheet functions such as: Sum, Count, Average, Min, Max, Product. Clicking on the more link will give you a list of all supported functions.

Worksheet

Just like any other spreadsheet software, the cells are organized in rows and columns. You can resize a column or rows by clicking between the lines between columns (or rows) and drag.

You can select a cell by clicking on the cell, you can also select a range of cells by clicking on the first cell and drag your mouse to the last cell. To select the entire row or column, click on the row or column heading. A select all button is also available.

You can have more than one worksheet on a spreadsheet file. You can add more worksheet by clicking the “Add Sheet” button below the worksheet. Next to the “Add Sheet” button, you can see tabs (with arrows next to it) of available sheets. Clicking on the sheets will switch your current worksheets to the one you click. Clicking on the arrows will allow you to delete or rename the sheet.

Sharing

Google Spreadsheets allows you to edit spreadsheets collaboratively with other people such as your co-worker, friends, family, teams. Once a cell is edited, anyone else viewing or editing the spreadsheet will see the changes in real time.

A chat window is also included in Google Spreadsheets. The chat window allows you to chat with the people who are editing or viewing your spreadsheet.

Conclusion

Google Spreadsheets lets you create spreadsheets free of charge without the need to install anything into their computer. Because it is a web based application, you can also access your spreadsheets anywhere. Your spreadsheet files are stored securely online on Google’s servers, you can also save it into your computer should you need to access it offline.

Google Spreadsheets is fast and act exactly like a Desktop software. It is a good spreadsheet solution especially for Intel Mac since a Universal Binary Microsoft Office is not yet available.

Wanna see some screenshots? Visit my flickr tagged “Google Spreadsheets”.

• June 7, 2006