Google gears up to offline access

Google uses Gears extension to provide offline access to docs

Google has delivered on its offline access to applications promise, providing users with the ability to edit and view spreadsheets and documents while offline.

Announcing the update Janani Ravi, Software Engineer, said, "As you'll read on the Google Docs blog, starting today and over the coming weeks we're rolling out offline editing access to word processing documents to Google Docs users. You no longer need an Internet connection when inspiration strikes. Whether you're working on an airplane or in a cafe, you can automatically access all your docs on your own computer."

The offline access is enabled through the use of Google Gears, an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide offline functionality. The roll out will start with consumer users, who should notice an "Offline" menu in the upper right of their document window. Enterprise users will get the option soon after.

A blog post and how-to demo video are included in the Google blog to help guide users through setting the system up.