Google opens Docs to all files

GDrive is still speculative, but Google is surely giving you a `hard drive’ in the cloud. Firing another salvo in its war to control the cloud, Google has announced that it is rolling out the ability to upload all file types to the cloud through Google Docs.

Very soon, Google Docs users will be able to store their important files online, where they can access them easily and share them with others.

According to a post on The Official Google Blog, "Over the next few weeks, we’re rolling out the ability to upload all file types to the cloud through Google Docs, giving you one place where you can upload and access your key files online."

Google Docs now supports files up to 250 MB in size, which is larger than the attachment limit on most email applications, claims the company. Users will be able to backup large graphics files, RAW photos, ZIP archives and much more to the cloud.

More importantly, instead of carrying a USB drive, users can now use Google Docs as a more convenient option for accessing their files on different computers.

In addition to uploading any file into Google Docs, Google Apps Premier Edition customers can also seamlessly upload many files at once and sync them with their desktop in real time using third-party applications.

According to the Google blog, the feature will be enabled in users' accounts over the next couple of weeks. So, keep looking for the bubble notification when you sign in to Google Docs.

Microsoft Loses Word Suit, Will Alter Code

U.S. Court of appeals upheld $290 million lawsuit verdict in favor of Canadian Firm i4i who sued software giant Microsoft for 1998 XML-related patent infringement. As per i4i's lawsuit, Microsoft Word 2003 and Word 2007 carried patented XML-tagging feature. Now, according to the ruling passed, Microsoft is not allowed to sell any Word program that includes patented XML (eXtensible Markup Language) based technology.

Microsoft was sued by i4i for using 1998 XML patent based code in Word 2003 and Word 2007 for opening .XML, .DOCX and .DOCM based files containing custom XML code. In August, Judge Leonard Davis of U.S. District Court of Texas issued an injunction that prohibited Microsoft from selling Microsoft Word products that can open .XML, .DOCX and .DOCM files as per i4i's statement. This injunction will go into effect on January 11 next year.

Kevin Kutz, director of Public Affairs, Microsoft, in an official statement, said, "While we are moving quickly to address the injunction issue, we are also considering our legal options." So, Microsoft will look forward to file appeals in higher courts of justice. Also, the company clarifies that - This injunction applies only to copies
of Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Office 2007 sold in the U.S. on or after the injunction date of January 11, 2010. Copies of these products sold before this date are not affected.

As reported by Reuters, Microsoft is also hooked to pay $290 million as damages that include additional fees and interest.

Know about File Extension .doc

The file extension DOC or doc is used for word processing documents, most commonly for Microsoft Word. Microsoft DOC files may be opened by any version of Word which is equal to or higher in version than the version in which it was created. Other programs which will open DOC files include Apple Pages and Apple Works, Nuance OmniPage Pro X, Microsoft Word Viewer, Nuance OmniPage Professional, and the free software OpenOffice.org Writer for either the Windows or Mac platform. Microsoft Word Pad, provided on any Windows platform computer will also open DOC files. StarOffice, AbiWord and Kword will also open DOC files.

There are, however, several other software programs that have used the file extension DOC. These are DisplayWrite 4 documents, Interleaf documents, Microsoft BIFF files, Palm Pilot DOC files, and Samna Word formatted text which is mixed ASCII and binary. If the icon displayed with a file does not have the Microsoft Word “W,” this doc file was probably created with one of these other pieces of software. Early uses of the DOC file extension were made by WordStar, Volkswriter, and the lesser known SmatWare, Sprint, Total Word, Wang IWP, and WordMarc. If a Word DOC file cannot be opened with Microsoft Word it may have been created in a higher version, or there may be registry errors. Liutilities.com or fileinfo.net offer a free registry scan and booster to fix errors. This is certified safe by Microsoft.

The best suggestion to create DOC files is to use the Microsoft software, rather than trying to create them through Open Office. This is because the file may sometimes fail unexpectedly and no longer be able to be opened. In this situation creating backup files on a very regular basis is recommended. Some viruses may corrupt DOC files making it impossible to open them with any Microsoft Word program. The reported error is “the document name or path is not valid.” If this occurs the text may sometimes be retrieved by using Word Pad, but formatting will be lost.