Google Docs sports PDF support

Google Docs, the online office suite from the search giant, now has some limited but useful support for PDF files.

People using the service now can upload and view documents encoded with the widely used and now standardised Portable Document Format (PDF) initially created by Adobe Systems. People also can transfer PDFs stored on the web.

The move, announced on the Google Docs blog last week, isn't much of a surprise as close observers had already seen signs that hinted at imminent Google Docs PDF support.

Google Docs, still in beta testing, competes with Microsoft Office but is relatively primitive when it comes to feature support.

However, because it's web-based, Google can add new features relatively easily; users simply use the website, and they appear, one of the chief advantages of the software-as-a-service approach. And given that Google's three big areas of focus are search, ads and applications, expect lots of resources to be poured into this area.

Original article: Google Docs gets limited PDF support from CNET News.com