Write anywhere. that's the promise of Google's new service, Google Documents (or "Google Docs" for short). Born out of Google's acquisition of the online word processor Writely, Google Docs is an amazing example of how the Web can transform our lives in ways we couldn't imagine even 5 years ago. I mean, it's a word processor - a full-featured, easy-to-use word processor - and it's *online*, available from any computer with Internet access, any time you want. For free.

To use Google Docs, you need a Google account. If you already use another Google service, like Gmail or Google Groups, you already have a Google account and can log in with your existing login. Otherwise, signing up is easy: just go to docs.google.com and click "Create a New Account". Once you're logged in, you'll be presented the Google Docs homepage, a list of your most recent documents and links to create a new one, as well as links for settings and other site functions. Create a new document and Google will load a full-fledged word processor into your browser window. Or, you can import documents from your desktop, allowing you to access them anywhere. The interface is very similar to other word processors you've used, with buttons for formatting, font and style selection, and other word processing functions. While not as extensive as the options available in Word, OpenOffice, or WordPerfect, Google Docs has everything you need for basic writing and editing. You can even use many of the same keyboard shotcuts you're used to from other programs, like ctrl-i to italicize selected text.

Once you've created a document, you have several choices of formats to save it in. If you select "Save" from the File menu, your work will be saved at Google Doc and accessible from anywhere. But you can also save in the Word .doc format, the standardized .rtf format, the OpenOffice .odf format, or plain text, which will download the file to your hard drive so you can open it in the program of your choice. What's more, you can save your file as HTML to post it on the Internet, and even as a .pdf file to share your work via Adobe Acrobat Reader or the fast and quick FoxitReader. From the same menu you can print or run a word count as well as find and replace words or phrases in the body of your text.

Google Docs offers more than just a basic word processing, though. Documents are automatically saved while you're working on them, and the entire revision history is available under the "Revisions"

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