Google Docs consist of a Word Processing application, a Spreadsheet application, and a Presentation application.

They are  especially useful for collaboration with others, but can be used by anyone as an alternative to other office applications. With this Google product, you can create, manage, and share the office documents without installing anything onto your computer, right from a web browser. All you need is a Google account, a computer, and an internet connection.

If you have ever had a computer crash and lost documents, then you will come to appreciate how useful it is to save your documents online rather than on your computer.

Let me digress a moment to give you some background into the Google products. Google Docs is part of a larger package called Google Apps.

Google Apps consist of:

• Gmail
• Google Docs
• Google Calendar
• Google Sites
• The Start Page
• Google Talk

You have the option to sign up for the whole Google Apps package, or you can have just a Google Docs account. Since they are all free, why not take advantage of everything you get in the Google Apps package. For example, I have been using Gmail for some time now and find it to be incredibly secure, and they do a fantastic job of catching spam.

Additionally, if you have ever moved and changed your internet service provider, then you know how difficult it can be to alert everyone with your new email. With Gmail, you never have to do that again–you can log into Gmail from any computer, anywhere in the world. Having a Gmail address is completely acceptable for business, whereas Hotmail and Yahoo are not. The other features are just as handy, but as I said, you can sign up for just the docs or get the whole package of apps.

Here is a list of benefits to using Google Docs:

• They are completely free

• You do not need any software

• You can access your documents from any computer with an internet connection (just log in to your Google account)

• If you are collaborating with others, know that several people can be working on a single document at the same time

• There is no need to have your own server–everything is saved on a secure server.