Outlining: What Google Docs is Missing

As a user of a PC at work and a Mac at home, I am always on the lookout for applications that will allow me to get my work done using my Mac when I work at home. Eventually I would like to follow many others and switch to a Macbook Pro as my work laptop. Google Docs is on the right track, however it is missing some basic functionality that will keep most people from migrating away from their Microsoft suite.

I am performing on-line research for a vertical market conference I will be attending . This conference is attended by many organizations made up of many subsidiaries. There are also complex collaborations and joint ventures between the companies. I need to create a document for myself as well as my coworkers to help them to understand the complex relationships before going to the conference. Mind maps would be perfect for this type of information visualization, however I haven’t picked a mind map application yet so I decided to outline the information instead. Using Google Docs would give me cross platform capabilities as well as the ability to share with coworkers.

The only auto-numbering function I could find in Google […]