Google Docs originated from two separate products as a free web-based version of Microsoft Office, providing basic functionality for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. It began as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and was combined from a word processor called Writely and Google Spreadsheets, being made available to Google Apps users in 2007. The document discusses the history of Google and Google Docs and evaluates its advantages and disadvantages for business use.