Mountain View, California — Google on its Official Gmail Blog announced that it has now activated the option to view Microsoft Word documents (.doc and .docx) can now be easily viewed right into your browser with a single click when received as attachments in Gmail.
Previously, when users of Gmail received an attachment with a document in any of the above formats, they had to download and open .doc and .docx files with the Microsoft Word desktop application in order to view them. Now, individuals will be able to view Word documents online in their browsers with the Google Docs viewer, which handles the new duties already provides one-click viewing of PDF, Powerpoint and TIFF files.
The new feature functions in the vanilla Gmail, as well as in Google Apps (all editions). To use this feature, all you have to do is click on the “View” link at the bottom of the message that contains the attachment, and you will be prompted over to the Google Docs viewer for your documents.
Furthermore, if the “Edit online” button is clicked, the document will open in Google Docs for editing. Users also have the option to download the file to open it with Microsoft Word. This may not looks like a novel feature, but previously opening Word documents were only viewable as HTML, and DOCX for Microsoft Word 2007 was not at all supported.
Although it is a small update with big productivity implications for those who use and share Word docs frequently, this update certainly makes it a bit easier to send docs to other Gmail users, whether they have got Word installed or not.
It is interesting that Google keeps developing out support for all these document types — it really does make “Going Google” smoother. If Microsoft wants to combat this, they are going to have to start offering similar features — like the ability to open Google Docs directly into Word.