Google wants some office action

While Google’s dream of a world where we not only use Google to search, but also for word processing and number crunching, may be a little way off, the company has demonstrated its commitment to Google Docs & Spreadsheets by adding another 12 languages.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets offers online collaboration – for free

According to Kevin Systrom, an Associate Product Marketing Manager at Google, you can now use Google Docs & Spreadsheets  in English (UK and US) French, Italian, German, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Turkish, Polish, Dutch, Portuguese (Brazil) and Russian.

It’s interesting to note the addition of Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. Google obviously sees a big opportunity in China.

For those that don’t know, Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a free web based word processor and spreadsheet that allows you to create and edit documents. The really cool thing about it is that it allows you to collaborate with other users via the Internet. The word processor was originally developed by Writely System, which Google acquired last year, while Google Spreadsheets was developed inhouse.

In other Google news, Google Toolbar 3 for Firefox is now out of beta and available in all the languages listed above. This new version allows you can open your documents and spreadsheets directly in Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

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• Google Docs & Spreadsheets: one step closer to Microsoft Office
• Google buys DocVerse: Microsoft Office integration with Google Docs likely
• Microsoft preparing for battle with Google on the desktop front
• New Google policy make Google Docs more public
• Google docs now works offline with Google Gears