Google Apps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Google Apps Online Control Panel |
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| Developed by | Google Inc. |
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| Operating system | Any (Web-based application) |
| Type | Web productivity tools |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www.google.com/a/ |
Google Apps is a service from Google for using custom domain names with several Google products. It features several Web applications with similar functionality to traditional office suites, including: Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites.
The Standard Edition is free and offers the same amount of storage as regular Gmail accounts.[1] The Premier Edition, which offers 25 GB of e-mail storage, is 50 USD, 40 EUR, or 25 GBP, per year, per account. The Education Edition, which is free, combines features from the Standard and Premier editions.
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[edit] History
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This section may contain an inappropriate mixture of prose and timeline. Please help convert this timeline into prose or, if necessary, a list. |
In February 2006, Google created Gmail For Your Domain with an invitation-only beta, which allowed Gmail to be used with a custom domain name. It featured 2GB of e-mail storage, and many of the standard Gmail features.
In August 2006, Google expanded on this service and developed Google Apps For Your Domain, incorporating more recent Google services, including Google Calendar, Google Talk, and Google Page Creator. Later, Google added a "Start Page" to all accounts, which is based on their iGoogle service.
In October 2006, Google allowed educational institutions to sign-up for the service as well, which was retitled Google Apps For Education. A large implementation of Google Apps is at Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada, where 38,000 users have Gmail and in-browser IM capabilities.[2]
On February 22, 2007, Google launched a Premier Edition for enterprise, as well as making registration public for all Google Apps services. At the same time, all products were unified, and the online control panel was redesigned.
In June 2007, email migration from IMAP email services was added to Google Apps.[3]
On October 3, 2007, Google announced that "security, compliance, policy management, and message recovery services" from recently-acquired Postini will be integrated into Google Apps Premier Edition.[4][5]
On October 12, 2007, Google announced that e-mail storage for domains using Google Apps would be increasing. Premier Edition accounts now have 25GB of space each (previously 10GB). Standard and Education Edition accounts will mirror the Gmail counter (previously 2GB, over 7GB as of August 2008).[1]
On February 28, 2008, Google announced that Google Sites will be available to domains hosted by Google Apps. Google Sites allows collaborative editing of web sites and permits users to upload images and videos to their site.[6]
In September 2008 Google Page Creator and file uploader was removed as an available service for new Google Apps applicants.
On December 1, 2008, Google removed the Start Page option for new Google Apps accounts. They are apparently trying to transition new users to using sites instead.
On January 14, 2009, Google removed the ability to add additional users to Standard Edition domains and limited new standard edition domains to 50 users (a reduction from the previous 200).
On January 29 2009, Google added Google Apps to the Google Labs suite. This allows users to add gadgets to their inbox such as 'Offline', 'Tasks', and 'Vacation Time!'.[7]
On April 1 2009, Google added theme support to the mail interface[8][9].
[edit] Differences between editions
Differences between editions:[10]
- Standard Edition
- Free
- Same storage space as regular gmail.com accounts (over 7GB as of September 2008)
- Text ads mandatory
- Limited to 50 Users
- Premier Edition
- 50 $USD / account / year
- 25 GB space for e-mail
- Text ads optional
- Integrated Postini "security, compliance, policy management, and message recovery services"
- Conference room/resource scheduling
- 99.9% e-mail uptime guarantee
- APIs for Single Sign On, etc.
- 24/7 phone support
- 3rd party applications and services
- Education Edition
- Same as Premier Edition except for:
- Free for "accredited not-for-profit K-12 schools, colleges, and universities"
- No uptime guarantee
- No integrated Postini services
- Google may serve ads to accounts not associated with enrolled students, non-profit staff or volunteers [11]
- Same storage space as regular gmail.com accounts (over 7GB as of September 2008) [1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Rob Siemborski (2007-10-12). "More Gmail storage coming for all". Google. http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/more-gmail-storage-coming-for-all.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ Lee Rickwood (2007-03-23). "Google Apps: Killer software or killer decision?". PCWorld.ca. http://www.pcworld.ca/news/column/8088b6470a01040800f483b40707b39a/pg1.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ David Berlind (2007-06-25). "Google improves ‘Apps’, offers organizations clear path off Exchange, Notes, etc. to GMail". ZDNet. http://blogs.zdnet.com/Berlind/?p=580. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Google Adds Postini's Security and Compliance Capabilities to Google Apps". Google Press Center. 2007-10-03. http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/apps_postini_20071003.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Google Apps - Additional security and compliance options". Google. http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/security.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Google Sites". Google. http://www.google.com/sites/overview.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Gmail Gets Offline Support, Finally". shilpz. http://glamizer.blogspot.com/2009/01/gmail-gets-offline-support-finally.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-29.
- ^ http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/04/01/gmail-themes-finally-come-to-google-apps/
- ^ http://lifehacker.com/5192677/google-apps-adds-support-for-themes
- ^ "Google Apps - Choose the edition that fits your needs". Google. http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/editions_spe.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Google Apps Education Edition agreement". Google. http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/education_terms.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
[edit] Further reading
- Conner, Nancy (2008). Google Apps: The Missing Manual. Sebastopol: Pogue Press. ISBN 9780596515799.
