If you use Google Docs and Microsoft Office, you’ll appreciate the new Outlook sidebar from Mainsoft. Called Harmony, and currently in beta, the sidebar lets you share, e-mail, download, upload, and edit your Google Docs right from your desktop using Outlook 2007.
Starting on Tuesday, Harmony is available as a free download from Mainsoft’s Website, and there is also a version for Microsoft SharePoint users. Here’s a quick look at Harmony for Google Docs:
Drag and Drop
Harmony features drag and drop functionality to send documents via e-mail, upload a new file to Google Docs, or just view a Google Doc right in Outlook. The Harmony sidebar also travels with you, so when you open up a compose message window, the sidebar appears there, too, so you don’t have to navigate between the main Outlook window and the message window to use Harmony.
To send a Google Doc via e-mail, you just choose the file from the Harmony sidebar, drag it into your message window, and Harmony creates a link to the Google Doc online instead of attaching it to the e-mail.
When the recipient gets your e-mail, they click on the link and the document opens up on the Google Docs site. If the recipient doesn’t have a Google account, they will be prompted to create one before accessing the document. Harmony will also give you the option to set editing or viewing permissions for your document before you send it through e-mail.
By default, Harmony sends your Google Docs as a link, but if you prefer, you can have Harmony send an attachment by adjusting your options in the Harmony sidebar settings.
If you receive a word document, spreadsheet, PDF, or presentation via e-mail, you can upload the attached document to your Google Docs account; to do so, you just drag the attached file into the Harmony sidebar.
