Memo #10—Google Docs Experience

For the best explanation of my experience and opinions as to the Google Docs program, I am currently typing this memo in Microsoft Word. I will then copy and paste the memo into Google Docs for publication to the Standards blog. So, in a nutshell, I feel that the limitations and compatibility issues outweigh the benefits of Google Docs.
I understand and appreciate the benefits of Google Docs. The first is that it is a thin client. By running the program on the Internet, no hard drive space on the computer is used and little RAM is occupied by the program. I run Mac OS X, and since I am currently using Word, I will write about the amount of processor capacity is being used, the amount of RAM occupied by the typing of this memo and the amount of hard drive space Microsoft Word occupies on the hard drive. I performed a clean login, which prevents startup programs from running in Mac OS X. Opening Activity Monitor, the program tells me that Microsoft Word is currently using 3.40% of the processor capability of my 2 GHz Intel Core Duo processor. Currently, Word is occupying 75.06 MB of RAM. Finally, Word as an application occupies 19.5 MB of ard drive real estate, but the entire Microsoft Office suite of applications occupies 415 MB of space. True, these numbers are relatively small, but when a computer is maxed out, all of the extra space, processor capacity and RAM space is needed and thus an online suite of office applications is attractive. The second advantage is the online storage of files, automatically backing up all files. If your hard drive fails, your Office files are lost unless you personally back-up your files. These are the two main advantages for me, but these two are entirely outweighed by the limitations of the program.
The first limitation for me is compatibility. Inexplicably, to me, Google Docs does not support Safari for Mac. While I am able to run the program in Firefox, Safari is my default browser, and my personal choice of browser. Firefox for Mac OS X takes a long time to initalize, longer then Word, and thus I am less inclined to use Google Docs through the Firefox browser. The Second limitation is the inability to Footnote or to import Footnotes into Google Docs. As a law student, I use footnotes all the time. Because this significant feature is lacking, I am less inclined to use Google Docs. Finally, I am using my computer to compose and edit documents regularly in places where I lack Internet access, such as the bus, car and airplane. If I cannot access the documents, nor save them, I am disinclined to continue using the program.
Thus, these three limitations for me far outweigh the benefits of using a thin, online word processor client such as Google Docs.