Personal Cloud Storage & File Sharing Platform
Google Drive is a great tool to help people wanting to go paperless. For starters, it exists in the cloud. It contains several document creation software packages that can be used right from the interface.
Integration
Google Drive integrates with your Gmail account. This feature means you can save attachments directly to your Drive account, which makes you potentially more productive over time.
The core software that comes as a default with your Drive account includes a spreadsheet program, a word processor, and a slideshow program. As extensions, they include a forms manager, a drawing app, and a mind map app. But the real power comes with its ability to enhance your Drive account with add-on applications. Most of these are free and are quite useful. All of them are managed right within your Drive interface. You install these much in the same way as you would an app on your smart device. Google Drive uses the concept of a Connect button to handle this.
Devices Support
The downside to this is many of the apps will only run in a Google Chrome browser, which you would need to install and use your Drive account from there.
However, the browser is free and many people prefer it over the other browsers.
It takes about two minutes to install and is easy to do. You can filter the app store by type (Chrome, Website) to see which will require Chrome if this is something you need.
Google is not the sole developer of apps. Independent developers can have their apps installed. So you have a wide diversity of apps available that may not have been if Google were the only developer.
Other filters exist in the app store to help you get exactly the types of apps you need, and you can choose only the highest-rated apps, so you don’t waste time.
You can choose by category or you can refine your search for free apps available for Android as examples.
The extensibility of the Google Drive interface makes it a great choice for those wishing to go paperless. The interface is limited only by the imaginations of all the developers involved. One forewarning, though, it’s possible to lose yourself in the app store if you aren’t careful.
Budget information
It also gives you 15 gigabytes of storage. If you need more, you can purchase one of their plans.
Basic plan: $1.99 / month
Includes 100 GB of space
Standard plan: $2.99 / month
Includes 200 GB of space
Premium plan: $9.99 / month
Includes 2TB of space