Google is working to restore offline storage capabilities for its Apps productivity software and should have it done by the end of the year, according to a senior company official on Wednesday.

Google had engineered the ability for Docs to store content on a user's desktop, which gave the Web-based word processing application capabilities more similar to desktop client applications such as Microsoft's Word. It did that by using Gears, its open-source browser plug-in that created a fully searchable database and a local cache for JavaScript to run the application offline.

But in May 2010 Google removed this capability for Google Docs as it moved toward using those same type of features within Gears, but using the HTML5 specification. It did keep the offline capabilities for Gmail and Calendar products.

More: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9214670/