Google Releases Presentation Software

Today Google released their web version of Keynote or PowerPoint. It’s part of the Google Docs suite so as long as you have yourself a Google account you can start making presentations!

You can import PowerPoint files, export to HTML, format text with many different options, have versions of a single file, collaborate with other people who have Google accounts, and share your presentations online.

At this point you can’t have transitions between slides, you cannot use any audio or video within your slides and you cannot export to any well known format (PowerPoint, Keynote…etc).

While this a great step for web applications it’s probably not something you want to switch to if you’re a daily Keynote or PowerPoint user. It’s great if you’re looking for a simple & free solution, but if you’re really need a professional presentation, you’re better off getting Keynote or PowerPoint.

I also found out that the application doesn’t work to well in Safari. Although anyone who has been using GMail, GCal or most any one of Google web application should know that they don’t really work that well in Safari. You should have much better luck using Mozilla FireFox though.

I hope in the near future Google will allow you to export your presentation as a PowerPoint or Keynote file. It would be great if it (and other Google Apps) supported Safari (although I mostly blame that on Safari being behind the times).

I do love how you can have revisions and collaborate with other users though!

Visit Docs.Google.com to check out the new application!