google docs lockup / new format

I recently noticed that when I try to edit my google docs docuents on chrome, the browser locks up. CPU activity goes to 100%. It's like it gets stuck in an endless loop. So I have to CTRL-ALT-DEL and end task to exit.

It seems OK on firefox though. And trying it on Internet Explorer it locks up there too.

So I wondered maybe it's just my old documents. So I tried creating a new document. And it looks different. Now it looks like a WYSIWG word processor with a ruler on the top and margins on the left and right.

I suppose this is OK, but I'm wondering whether this has something to do with why it's locking up.

I tried a small document and it seemed OK. So maybe it's the size of the document? Maybe they can't handle large documents in the old format?

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Well, I tried copying and pasting text from the old document to a new document. But it doesn't look the same. Even changing the font to the same, the line spacing looks different. And as soon as I try to do anything, it tries to save and I get a message box saying the script is unresponsive. And this is in firefox.

Definitely a turn for the worse in my view.

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I guess what I can do is go to this link and copy and paste into it.

OK made the doc and tried to edit it in chrome. Seemed OK. Then tried it in I.E. Locked up at first with high CPU usage then settled down after a number of seconds and then could edit it. Maybe it's a document size issue?

Next I opened a document in the new format into which I had pasted in test from an old document. It was really slow to open in I.E. with high CPU usuage. After like 10 minutes the document finally loaded in and I was able to slowly edit it.

The same document loaded much quicken using firefox, like in five to ten seconds.

Conclusion? I'll continue to use firefox and create new documents in the old format.

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Ah, now I see that there IS a new google docs and actually seems to be a brand new (completely different) product.

So compatibility issues would be expected. But locking up the browser has to be unacceptable.

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[7/19/10] Ah, you can change the default back to the old documents. Click on new features at the top. Then click on the link Learn more about the new version and how to start using it. That brings up the answer.

You can continue to create documents in the older version, for now, by opting out of the new version. Simply go to your Google Docs Settings page, click the Editing tab, and deselect the option labeled "Create new text documents using the latest version of the document editor."

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[1/28/11] Now I see they have removed that option. What you need to do is then, is bring up an old document with the old format, make a copy of the document (with the make a copy option under the File menu), rename the document, type in the new text and delete the old text.