Google Docs adds shared folders

Google updated its web-based collection of office productivity tools to include shared folders--a much-requested feature among Google Docs partisans.

With shared folders, Google Docs users no longer need to set-up unique sharing privileges on individual files. Instead, users can create any number of folders, each with its own sharing settings, and all documents of all types therein will be shared accordingly.

The latest changes to Google Docs don't end with shared folders. Also new is the less-requested but still useful ability to upload multiple files at once. Google Docs can import Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoints, and other files (with varying degrees of success), and now you can import batches of files faster than before.

Google Docs is also sporting a new coat of paint, with an updated look that makes the online suite look a lot like Google Voice. So if you like big buttons and shades of bluish purple, you're in for a treat.

All these new features work in both the regular edition of Google Docs and in Google Apps for Domains, too.