Overall there is much to like here: 25GB of free online storage, an interface comfortably similar to the desktop Office programs and the same file format as well. On the downside the online programs ran slower in my browser than the equivalent Google Docs Apps.
Is it true that Google Drive is being discontinued? This month that it will end support for the Google Drive desktop apps for Windows and Mac computers on Dec. 11 and that the software will be shut down for good on March 12. But while those handy desktop programs for managing your files in the cloud are destined for retirement, Google’s online backup service is not going anywhere soon. You just get to it through different desktop programs. (You can also continue to just upload and download stored files through your Google Account in a web browser.) For desktop users who backed up files to cloud servers with the Google Drive app, the company has to do the job instead.
The app for Windows and Mac, is Google’s software for users of its free services. The program of locally stored photos and other files on the computer to Google’s cloud servers. (Note that you get a free 15 gigabytes of storage from Google, but if you max it out, if you want to keep storing all your files on the company’s servers.). Business customers using the version of Google’s Gmail, calendar and business programs have a choice. They can use Backup and Sync, too, or switch to the new app for Windows or Mac.
Drive File Stream has been available for early adopters and officially arrives on Tuesday. Google use the Drive File Stream for a few reasons, including faster data-sync times. Additionally, the app stores the files online for direct use and puts less corporate data on the users’ hard drives; specific files and folders can be marked for local storage and use offline when an internet connection is not available.
For Google Apps is a desktop application that syncs desktop files with the Google Docs cloud. It helps with file conversions, too, and is available for both Mac and Windows. The application was the centerpiece showpiece of that all types of files.
This makes Google Docs a more useful tool but also reveals more of its lack of depth. Memeo Connect, released Monday, requires a Google Apps Premier Edition account to function. Premier Edition is the paid version of Google Apps and costs $50 per user annually. Priced at $9 per user annually, Memeo Connect tries to solve two issues, first that Google and Microsoft use different file formats for document storage, and second, the challenge of keeping files synchronized between Google's cloud-based storage and multiple desktops.
I've had a chance to test the release version of the application, which has worked just fine for me. The program does a good job-sometimes too good-of demonstrating the formatting problems involved in moving documents in and out of Google and Microsoft formats. Microsoft formatting and features are lost when converting to Google formats. The less-rich Google formats are, in my experience, pretty much unchanged when converted for use in Google Docs. As a workflow, it is best to start a document in Google Docs and leave it there for collaboration and editing before flowing it into Word for formatting and pricing/distribution. Microsoft-formatted documents are best downloaded from Google Docs using Memeo Connect for local editing in Microsoft Office. At this point, I would definitely not recommend the wholesale conversion of Word or Excel files into Google formats.
Maybe when Google Docs grows up, but not before. That maturation would include the ability to view Microsoft docs from within Google Docs, which I could as a major shortcoming once you can load such files to the cloud. Also, Microsoft documents added to Memeo Connect must thereafter be opened from inside Memeo in order to keep the changes synched with Google Docs. The synchronization is automatic. The program also creates local PDF versions of Google Docs for offline viewing, which is a nice touch. If your only need is to store files in Google's cloud, Memeo is an excellent helper.
I really can't find anything wrong with the program that somehow isn't Google's fault. Nice user interface, drag-and-drop to add files, almost too simple to use. Yes, you could manage your files directly in Google Docs, but Memeo Connect for Google Apps will do it with much less work and attention on your part. And at a reasonable price. David Coursey has been writing about technology products and companies for more than 25 years. He tweets as and may be via his Web site.