When I copy text from Google Docs and paste it in the OSX Text Edit application, format and links are preserved. If I copy it into a simple text app, the format is not preserved, but the text is pasted perfectly, as expected.
I assume there is some standard format in which the contents are copied in the clipboard, but what is it?
Best Answer
Basically, Google Docs writes several representations of the data to the pasteboard (that's what it is called in OS X). Then whatever app you paste into reads an appropriate representation of the data from the pasteboard.
From the Pasteboard Programming Guide:
The clipboard in Windows works basically the same way.