Patrick Anderson's Blog

Google Drive was released yesterday and I have had a chance to check it out on a limited basis. If you aren't familiar with Google Drive, it is basically a cloud storage system that is somewhat of a replacement for Google Docs. They now have a desktop client for Windows and Mac, so you can keep files locally and sync them to your Google Drive.

So far, this is what I like about Google Drive:

• Easy to edit files using Google Docs system
• The grid view is a nice way to view your files
• The search function is fantastic
• Having 30 days of previous revisions is essential
• The desktop sync is a feature I have wanted from Google for years and seems to work fine
• Sharing files is just as easy as it was with Google Docs

There are a couple of things I would like to see improved:

• Integration with Picasa is needed - then Google Drive could be THE solution for backing up and managing photo collections
• Better desktop client - need the ability to limit bandwidth and to get a share link

I've know about Google Cloud Print for awhile and I even tested it just to see if it works. It allows you to do stuff like print documents from you Android phone or Chrome browser to a home printer... Even if you a thousand miles away. Pretty cool, eh?

For me, I hate printing and I am usually at home or at work with tons of printers, so I haven't had much need for it. That is until today. I was using my work laptop at home and wanted to print something out. Because I have Google Cloud Print setup, all I had to do was print to the cloud. I didn't have to worry about finding drivers or getting around my work laptop's security restriction. Just click and print.