Just finished getting Google Apps for your domain runing on the ol’ AR. Got to say, it’s a pretty compelling bunch of apps. We all know about gmail, and that’s all good – although probably the least important part for me. What is really appealing is hassle-free document sharing and collaboration, and the sheer excellence of Google Calendar. Not only is the web interface great, but it’s super-easy to share calendars with everyone on your domain.

Having used other, similar apps before, most notably Backpack and other 37signals apps, it’s also notable just how quickly Google rolls out new features. Obviously one of these companies has a staff of eight and the other is a behemoth, and it makes me uncomfortable when a huge corp uses its size to outclass competitors, but yeah. Google Calendar, for free, gets you SMS alerts, instant map links, a bitchin’ ‘quick add’ feature, and a nice mobile interface. Seems like every couple weeks there’s a handy new thing being rolled out, and it’s hard to complain about that.

I can imagine that the benefit to a small business is remarkable. I mean, google docs & spreadsheets are a lot, well, freer than Word and Excel, and considering how often the email at work has problems, it’s a lot handier having google worry about all that jazz than either having an IT person on staff, or trying to make do without one.

(Worth adding: I’m actually not the hugest fan of web apps. Obviously they have their advantages, but I’d still like to use a desktop app whenever feasible. So I love it when I can sync between the two, as I do with Google Cal and iCal thanks to spanning sync)

(Also worth adding: I still love backpack and use it for organizing projects, I just don’t use the calendar anymore.)