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Google Docs Now Supports More File Types

Google announced today that it has added a couple filetypes to its list of supported ones. The new additions are .xlsx and .docx files. Recalling his first encounter with Google Docs, Anil Sabharwal on the Google Docs Blog writes:

Google Offers Glimpse of Google Apps Script

Google announced this week that it has launched a limited test of a new feature, which lets people add customization and automation to Google Apps, starting with spreadsheets in Google Docs. They call this Google Apps Script. Google Apps Script lets users automate spreadsheet actions, like reading and changing values in cells and ranges, changing formats and formulas, and creating custom functions. It also allows users to send email or create calendar entries outside of spreadsheets.

Google Announces Logo Changes

No, Google is not changing the Google logo itself, but a number of the company's products will be presented with slightly different logos, which all reflect one unified look and feel. Google is in the process of rolling out these changes. So far, you can see the changes at Google Labs, Google Moderator, and Google Code. Look for new logos at Google Maps, Google News, and Google Docs soon.

Google Slows to a Crawl

Update: Google has addressed the issue on the Official Blog. The company says:

The Google Contacts Without the Gmail

Google has recently launched a standalone contacts manager, which lets you manage your contacts outside of Gmail. This would be particularly useful for those who don't use Gmail, but use other Google products that offer sharing capabilities. If you use Google Docs, Picasa, or Google Calendar for example, you can now update people's contact information without having to use Gmail. This was not an option before.

Google Docs Adds Spreadsheet Protection Feature

Google has launched a feature for spreadsheets in Google Docs called Sheet Protection. Basically, this will allow a user to let collaborators edit certain sheets of a spreadsheet while restricting them from others. To use the feature, simply go to the sheet, and bring up the menu. You will find the option that says "Protect Sheet."

Gmail Gets Better Viewer for PowerPoint and TIFF Files

A while back, Google introduced a viewer in Gmail for PDFs, and that has now been improved upon to support TIFF and PowerPoint documents. This means you can view PDFs, PPTs, and TIFFs in Gmail right from your browser without having to save them or have any additional software. Marc Miller on the Gmail notes that Gmail has had a "view as slideshow" option for PowerPoint files for a while, but the conversion technology is now integrated into this viewer.

Create and Insert Drawings in Your Google Documents

Google Docs has started including a new feature - the ability to insert drawings into documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. To use this feature, simply go to the Insert menu and click Drawing.

Google Docs List View Not Just for Mobile Anymore

Google Docs users may recall last month when Google improved the mobile version by adding list view for spreadsheets, which allows you to view, edit, sort, and filter them. Before that you could only view them. Google has now made the same list view available for working on spreadsheets from desktop and notebook computers. It can be found in the View menu.

Google Docs Privacy Glitch Accidentally Shares Documents

On Friday Google contacted some Google Docs users to alert them of a privacy issue. Less than 0.05% of user docs were accidentally shared with people with whom they were not supposed to be.