Google Docs has a new interface better than the earlier versions, the new interface addresses many of the changes demanded by the users. Docs has the new Folders option and files can be drag and dropped easily to folders.

Google Docs' new interface has an AJAX like feel, it is faster than before (but I couldn't see any noticeable difference). It also has a new option folder; there is no more "Tags" feature. You can drag and drop the files to the folder easily. But before you do that you need to create a new folder and name the folder. But loss of "Tags" is going to pose a big problem for Google, though many seem to prefer "Folders" option. GMail users may also want a similar "Folders" feature.

When you visit Google Docs, you will see something like the picture shown below. Has a new Trash icon, all your deleted files will be there, until you permanently delete it like you do in GMail. The second thing you will notice "All Folders" so you can drag and drop files from the right either the spreadsheet or the docs file. Then it has a category "Items by Type", now it has Docs and Spreadsheets, soon presentation and other types will be added here. The last one shows the shared contents, who are the ones you are sharing the file with.

There is a good search bar; it suggests the various options after you begin to type the first letter. It is similar to Google Toolbar "Suggest" option.

Cnet.com gives a good rating for this new Google Docs. Garret Rogers, ZDNet, wants one more feature added to Google Docs, to use it in an offline mode.

I use Google Docs a lot, very handy but some of the new features they added here are not very good especially using Folders instead of Tags. Now every file has many key features, so we cannot plug one file in one folder only, we need several keywords or Tags, which helps to organize the files much better. For example if you have a topic "Apple releases iPhone via AT&T", here there are three keywords, Apple, iPhone, AT&T, so we cannot put this file in one folder only, tags helps us to assign the same file in three tags, "Apple, iPhone, AT&T". Tags are just an advanced version of folders, makes it easier to organize things. So, I don't know why Google went back to "Folders" option.

Another problem, after you finish the file, there is an extra window open, so if you write four files, it will leave four main windows open, which is confusing instead of opening only one main window. This is not a major problem, but still there is.

Except for the interface, the main Docs or Spreadsheet program remains the same as old ones, nothing new has been added. So, if Google Apps wants to compete against Microsoft Office they should do better than this, I hope they do.

Do you like the new Google Docs?