style="font-size:15px;"> A Google Account is a single credential — a username and password pair — that gives you access to Google apps and services.
The Google Account acts as a key to both consumer accounts and Google Workspace accounts. The principal difference is that a consumer sets up their own Google Account and an administrator sets up a Google Account for each user in a Google Workspace organization.
The administrator retains centralized control of the Google Accounts in a Google Workspace organization and can configure many settings to control what the users can do. As a trivial example, the administrator can control whether or not users can change their profile photos and personal information.
Web-Based Apps Provide Easy Version Control and Updating
Like most Google apps, the Google Workspace apps are web based rather than being installed on users’ computers. Web-based apps require an Internet connection but deliver substantial benefits for management, standardization, and updating: Each time the user accesses a web-based app, they get the current version of the app without having to worry about updating it; and because each user receives the same version of the app, app features and capabilities will be consistent for all users — as will any bugs.
Google provides mobile versions of many apps for Android phones and tablets and for iOS devices — the iPhone, the iPad, and the iPod touch. These mobile apps do require installation, but both Android and iOS can either automatically install updates or prompt users to install them, so keeping the mobile apps up to date is not usually a problem.
Users Can Easily Work on Different Devices
Because the Google Workspace apps are web based, and because the apps store their files in Google Drive, users can easily work on different devices without having to worry about synchronization. For example, a user might create a spreadsheet in the Google Sheets app when working at the office on a desktop computer, make some changes to the spreadsheet at home that evening using the Google Sheets app on an iPad, and then enter data in the spreadsheet on a laptop the next day while visiting clients.
Meet the Google Workspace Apps
Google Workspace contains a bewildering list of apps, many of which are available to all Google Account holders but some of which are available only to Google Workspace users.
This section introduces you to the most important apps, including the email app, Gmail; the storage app, Google Drive; the productivity apps, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides; the communications apps, Google Chat and Google Meet; the note-taking app, Google Keep; and the form-design app, Google Forms.
Gmail
With an estimated 1.8 billion active users as of this writing, Google’s Gmail service needs little introduction. Apart from enabling you to send and receive email messages on your Google Account, Gmail provides powerful search and filtering tools to help you access and manage your messages.
Gmail’s tight integration with Google Workspace communications features, such as Google Chat and Google Meet, enables you to chat via text, voice, and video straight from your Inbox. Gmail also offers collaboration features that tie in to Google Drive and the productivity applications. For example, you can use Gmail to share files from Google Drive, and you can receive email notification of activity, such as comments, on your documents in the productivity applications.
Chapter 10 discusses Gmail.
Google Drive
Google Drive is the online storage service for Google Account users, used both by consumers and by Google Workspace users. Google Drive serves as the storage backbone for Google Workspace apps: Each file or document you create or manipulate in the Google Workspace apps is stored in Google Drive, whether it is listed there or not.
Each consumer Google Account receives a certain amount of Google Drive space — as of this writing, 15 GB — which they can expand by paying a monthly or yearly fee. For business usage, the organization’s Google Workspace administrator sets each user’s amount of space by choosing a suitable plan.
Chapter 2 shows you how to manage files and folders in Google Drive, and Chapter 6 explains how to use Google Drive to share and collaborate on files.
Google Docs
Google Docs enables you to create, edit, and collaborate on word processing documents. You can either create a new, blank document or get a jump-start by creating a document based on a template. Google Docs offers a wide range of formatting, including paragraph styles; the capability to include tables, images, and other graphical objects; and collaborative features such as change tracking and comments.
Google Docs can work with documents in the most widely used Microsoft Word formats. You can import a Word document and convert it to Google Docs format; open a Word document, edit it, and save your changes in Word format; or export a Google Docs document to a Microsoft Word file.
Chapter 3 covers common tasks in Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. Chapter 4 explains how to insert objects in these three apps. Chapter 5 focuses on Google Docs–only features.
Google Sheets
Google Sheets enables you to create spreadsheets in which to store and manipulate data. You can use either a single sheet or multiple sheets to organize and present your data, enhancing it with charts, images, or other graphical objects, as needed.
Google Sheets offers high compatibility with Microsoft Excel, the leading spreadsheet app. Google Sheets enables you to import an Excel workbook and convert it to Google Sheets format; open an Excel workbook, edit it, and save changes to the original workbook; or export a Google Sheets spreadsheet to an Excel workbook file.
Chapters 7 and 8 dig into using Google Sheets.
Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides let you collaborate with other people on creating and editing documents in real time, which can help get work finished faster.
Because the Google Workspace apps are web based and store their data on Google Drive, you can access the apps and work on your documents using almost any current or recent computer or device that has an Internet connection.
