Google docs spreadsheets collaboration

The single feature that should make you consider Google docs spreadsheets even if you have Excel is the collaboration. Although there are built-in features to Word and Excel that allow multiple people to work on the same document or spreadsheet it is hardly real-time. However in Google docs I can be working on a spreadsheet thousands of miles away from my associate who is looking at the same spreadsheet, when I make a change my associate sees it and if they do not understand they can ask about the changes immediately.

Google docs spreadsheets in the cloud

There is a lot of hype now about cloud computing. Sometimes when you hear a lot of hype you wonder if it's really as good as it seems. The buzz about cloud computing is significant and well-deserved. The reason is that if you asked most Internet users who  work over the Internet in a word what they love about it the answer would probably be "freedom". Being able to access your data from anywhere because it is "in the cloud" is very significant. This is especially true when the ability is granted for free as Google has done with Google docs spreadsheets.

So I would suggest that if you look at the initial versions of Google docs spreadsheets and were disappointed is time to take a second look. The product has been updated many times over and Google is committed to making an online spreadsheet that is free and better then what you could purchase for money.