Google Apps vs. Microsoft Office 2007
Which package of tools work best for a small business — Google apps or Microsoft Office 2007? That’s the question we discuss in our article “Does Google’s free ride beat Vista?” Do you have experience with either, or both? Comment here on your experiences to help other entrepreneurs.
Comment
Email
RSS
DiggYou still need Office Apps like Excel cause of the quick and sophisticated functions but MS is loosing ground and the new Vista OS wants me to switch to a MAC! or hopefully a future Google PC like device that will run on an online CPU!!!
To this sentence: “I open a Google document and invite Dan in using the “share” tab. Then we use AOL Instant Messenger to chat as we work. No more - e-mailing Word documents back and forth, or even talking on the phone.” I would say Google Talk can be used to chat or talk via voice for free. No need to use another IM software.
you should have also considered open office (www.openoffice.org) as another alternative, it is also free and compatible
“In my tests Google Apps provided a significant productivity boost by letting remote colleagues work together on shared documents.”
To be fair here, there is a huge problem with this. In many large companies, the ability to use shared documents, etc is a massive liability if two people can work on one document at the same time (Think about what happens if a GM engineers both modify a document and suddenly there are two versions, or three)
Security is also a big issue. With everything online, access is excellent, no VPN, and there is the ability to use about any computer to get work done….but with those advantages come problems with 1) what if that internet cafe or other computer has a security flaw? 2) eventually, Google is going to have to provide documents in a lawsuit. When that happens is everyone going to freak out? Who is going to pay to defend the subpoena? 3) You’re trading accessibility for control. Google has all of that data now…do you really trust anyone else with your company secrets? (what if you’re a competitor?)
However, the apps do have a lot of potential and are a great idea for smaller companies who look to the bottom line a bit more and aren’t as worried about sensitive data or security.
Thanks again for the article, it was one of the better comparisons that I’ve seen between the two.
“Is Google’s free ride as fast as Vista?’
Wow talk about misleading headline. Maybe make the title what relate to what you are comparing… Google Apps vs Office.
I would like to point out how you knock Office 2007 for not being compatible with PDF and requiring plugins. Do not blame Microsoft for that. Adobe was the one who is responsible for that by requiring Microsoft to pay per copy fees in order to integrate PDF support into Word. They allow anyone else to use it for free but expect Microsoft to pay for it. So Microsoft pulled the support shortly before launch and made it a plugin.
So don’t blame Microsoft for having to download a plugin. They had PDF support integrated into Office 2007. The fault lies with Adobe for it not being there out of the box.
“My verdict: If money is not an issue and you need to turn out dazzling presentations and spreadsheets, go with Office 2007. If collaboration is important to your business and you don’t need to produce slick documents or do complex financial analysis, try the far less expensive Google Apps.”
Yeah right! What an insightful conclusion and we really need it!
I just wonder how much CNN pays people like you to B.S. like that.
Thanks for the analysis. Now, have you checked out Apple’s new version of
iWORK? Of course not! You have a IBM PC clone, right? I’ve owned an Apple product since 1983, and swear by it. Now, I have a dual processor iMAC with an integrated OS using iPHOTO, iWORK,iPAGE & one other. Can’t beat it for simplicity and enjoyment. Just the IPHOTO alone means I can produce professional-looking printouts, and use my new 7 megapixel camera to full—well, almost–advantage. (Limited only by my brain power)
Software is “becoming horribly complex”? This has been the case for a long
time. :)
I do agree that it seems like the competition will be between Microsoft and
Google in the Office-space (who knew?), with other products taking over
niche areas. Microsoft is moving toward an online model, slowly, while
Google started there. But Microsoft still has the mindshare..
It will be interesting to see where we are in a few years.
I like competive market,so try to use the new product of google,I expect it
woside.com-china biggest classical furniture picture sitee
http://www.woside.com
How about Apple’s new iWork suite. The new spreadheet app “Numbers” looks impressive and the Keynote app outshines PowerPoint. And it’s only $79!
I’m not going to put much stock in an article or author who compares a suite of productivity software with an operating system.
I would definitly recommend giving Google Apps a shot. Even if you don’t think it is business worthy yet it is still great for personal use, especially if you are a student. And it wouldn’t hurt getting used to it now if it may be the way we do things in the future, that way you already know how it works and you will be months ahead of others.
You don’t need to choose. You can use both in harmony. Take a look at http://www.limitnone.com.
Features-
With its new Xterra line, 20 Degrees North is looking for its own piece of the lucrative athletic-shoe market. more -
A pastry distributor achieves business nirvana by ditching his biggest customer. more -
The Treasury says small companies will have a shot at procuring contracts, but history suggests big biz will be the big winner. more -
Starting in January, the new administration can expect to field many SOS calls from entrepreneurs. more
Hadley Hooper really gave short shrift to OpenOffice and StarOffice in
his article “Is Google’s Free Ride as Fast as Vista?” After succumbing
to Microsoft’s dominance years ago, I revisited the office suite
question recently when the Gates Gang quietly changed my software
license to exclude laptops.
Office 2003 suddenly stopped working on my laptop right before my
departure for a major meeting, warning me that I had exceeded the number
of licenses for my software. The license on my copy of Office still
showed that laptops were included, but a check of the license on the
Microsoft website showed that the new policy was “One machine, one
license.” Since this happened on a weekend, no one was home in Renton
to help me correct the problem, and I didn’t feel like shelling out $500
for a new copy of nearly obsolete software (Office 2007 had not yet
arrived at the local office supply stores).
I used Ask.com to search for office suite software, and discovered
OpenOffice.com. At a fraction the size of its Microsoft counterpart, it
was a snap to download and install, and it read my Office 2003 files
without difficulty. After returning to Boston, I bought Sun StarOffice
for $69, which uses the same file formats, but has slightly more refined
interfaces and starts faster (Andrew Johnson at SF Bay Pediatrics could
equip his staff of 24 with a real office suite for $1656 instead of
$4800 for Google Apps). All the meaningful capabilities of Microsoft
Office are present in StarOffice, without all the crashing and churning.
The equation editor is much nicer than Word’s, and I don’t need an
Internet connection to type. Note also that OpenDoc files make it
possible to archive formatted data in non-proprietary formats.