Google Drive Finally Arrives...and syncs Google Docs to your desktop

I have been a big user of the DropBox service which allows easy sharing of large documents "in the cloud" for quite a while now. As mentioned in the post below, this new service from Google has been rumored for a long, long time. It has obviously been gestating for a long time within the company and they have been thinking about how to do it right.

As a heavy user of many Google tools, the integration of Google Drive into all the other areas of Google, including Google Docs, makes it a bit more useful than DropBox itself. Now I can keep a copy of my Google Docs library automatically synced to any computer I choose. This, along with the ability to store and share large files, was intriguing enough to make me install the Google Drive app on my Mac as soon as possible.

As some have pointed out, this is also a new area for Google in another way. This is commercial product that requires extra payment if you want to increase the amount of space you have available. Instead of "paying with your eyes" via advertising, Google is making this more like the paid Google Apps service.

It always takes time to figure out a new service -- its pros and cons -- so I will be using it a lot over the next several weeks to see how it integrates with my workflow and changes/enhances my use of Google Docs.

You can read more using the links below and try it out directly using your existing Google account i.e. Gmail, etc.

Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

from The Official Google Blog by A GooglerJust like the Loch Ness Monster, you may have heard the rumors about Google Drive. It turns out, one of the two actually does exist.

Today, we’re introducing Google Drive—a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. Whether you’re working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond.

Read the entire official Google blog post

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