With so many office programs available today, it's hard to imagine that any single one is better than another. What usually sets one program apart from others is features and price. But Google ads a whole new dimension to office productivity to document creation and management. Google Docs is a full-featured word-processing, spreadsheet, and presentation program, but it also has a great pricepoint -- FREE. Add to that the fact that Google Docs is Web-based, and you've got a great combination that will have you creating, collaborating on, and managing all kinds of documents in no time.
There's one small catch. To use Google Docs, you must first have a Google Account. If you use any other Google program -- Google Analytics, Gmail, AdWords, AdSense, Picasa, or one of a dozen or so others -- you'll already have a Google account and can juse enter that information and start using the prgram. If not, it's easy enough to create one in no time. Use these steps:
- Go to http://www.Google.com/Docs.
- Near the bottom right corner of the page click the Get Started button.
- You're taken to the Create Account page where you need to enter some basic information: email address, create a password, provide your location, enter a verfication word, and read and agree to the Terms of Service. When you're finished, click the I accept. Create my account button.
- On the next page, a message appears explaining the account verification process. An email message will be sent to the email address you used to sign up for the account.
- When you receive the message, click the verification link provided in the message. If you can't click through the link, copy and paste it into the address bar of your Web browser.
- You should recieve a verfication message that you account has been created. Click the blue Click here to continue link to be taken to your new Google Docs account.
That's it. You're ready to begin creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. But there's more to it than that. You can also share them, publish them, and even download them to your computer so you can work offline. And you'll find instructions for how to accomplish all of those tasks in other articles in this series.