Google Introduces Cloud Connect For Microsoft Office

Google has released a new plug-in for Microsoft Office that helps users sync their Office documents with their Google Docs account. The Office documents will be saved via the "cloud" to Google's servers and can be accessed by whomever you name as an "editor" to the document. Different users can then access and edit the file, increasing their collaboration and cutting down on confusion and wasted time over multiple copies of the document.

Cloud Connect installs a toolbar into your Microsoft Office programs where you can log in and sync your documents with Google Docs. Google saves every edited version of the document, no matter if those edits were made in Office or Google Docs. You can also make documents read-only as well via Google Docs and each document will get its own unique web address.

"For example, you can edit a Word document's table of contents from Dublin while co-workers adjust formatting and make revisions in Denver," says Google's Apps product manager Shan Sinha. "Instead of bombarding each other with attachments and hassling to reconcile people's edits, your whole team can focus on productive work together."

Cloud Connect is free and works with the 2003, 2007, and 2010 versions of Microsoft Office. The plug-in will only work on PC versions of the popular office suite right now. Sinha says because there isn't support for open API's for Mac's version of Office the plug-in can't work right now.

[via LA Times]