12 File Formats can be Open Using Google Docs Viewer

Google Docs is rapid becoming a major candidate to established office suites similar to Microsoft Office and the free-to-use OpenOffice.org or LibreOffice. For some, it has previously replaced such desktop software.

Google isn’t a group to sit back and relax, though, and late last week Google Docs Viewer got 12 new file formats it could open.

What that means is, 12 more files you can view with a single click in Google Docs putting it ahead of the competition in some respects.

The 12 new formats available include:

Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)

Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 / 2010 (.PPTX)

Apple Pages (.PAGES)

Adobe Illustrator (.AI)

Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)

Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF)

Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)

PostScript (.EPS, .PS)

TrueType (.TTF)

XML Paper Specification (.XPS)

Google is viewing this update as a major target as Viewer now has support for all the major Microsoft Office formats.
Accessing the new formats is done in accurately the same way as previously supported file formats.

If you get sent a file in Gmail, for example, just click the view link and it will load in your browser. Not only is that faster than say, opening Adobe Photoshop on your desktop, but Google also say it is safer due to the fact you don’t need to download the file to your machine’s hard drive.