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Offline document creation and manipulation are slowly becoming things of the past as online workplaces and the use of Software as a Service (SaaS) begin to define the new preferences for the working professional. This is, by no means, a death for the traditional market owned by the likes of MS Office. But it is a very real example of large businesses making full use of the option of online collaboration.
In this post, we’ll be taking a look at the current leaders in the market of free online document modification and data storage services – Google Docs and Microsoft Live Workspace.
Google Docs began in 2006 with a basic spreadsheet editor and word processor. From its humble beginning, Google Docs has come to include a host of products that covers the Office spectrum and more.
Microsoft Live Workspace began in 2007 with similar capabilities to the initial Google Docs and focused more on letting users take their Office operations online in a limited way. To better understand what the two have reached in terms of evolution, we present their features under three categories:
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Basic premise:
Google Docs set out to provide an online solution to people working on documents. To this end, it has not changed since its inception and continues to do its job very well. The latest modifications to it allow storage of large files (up to 1GB) and also include a wide range of features, which is somewhat typical of a Google product. Google Docs remains to be free and does not require the user to own any offline software for full feature utilization.
Workspace set out to give MS Office users an alternative to Google Docs. As much as Microsoft insists that it has no intention of being a competing product, it is obvious that the migration to Google Docs is not in Microsoft’s favor. Storage amounts are lower than Google Docs but the main problem with Live Workspace comes from the condition to be met to unlock its full functionality – MS Office. Having started as a lighter version of Office, Workspace wastes no time in telling you that you should have Office if you want to exceed, or even equal, Google Docs’ capabilities. What this means to the casual user is that no document editing can be done online. It has to be done offline (on a paid version of MS Office). It is little more than an online file storage service in this regard.
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Functionality:
Google Docs has a huge list of added features that you can check out here. Whether you use Google Docs as an online file storage service or as a collaboration tool, it will play its role to satisfaction. If a situation arises where the in-built tools of Google Docs cannot solve a problem, the document can be exported to the desired Office software on the user’s desktop as a last resort. Supporting any file format for upload and any Office format (including the latest xlsx and docx), Google Docs is comprehensive. Edited files can be saved in any supported format.
Workspace is an excellent tool if you literally want a clearly organized workspace. Creating new Workspaces with the templates provided can help sort tasks out well. The interface is definitely more beginner-friendly than Google Docs’. The problem arises with its lack of actual editing capabilities. If your aim is to store files online, have people check the documents out and add to the folder along with their comments, Workspace will help you achieve it. Documents can only be saved in the format they’re opened in. In other words, format conversion is impossible.
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Collaboration:
This is where Google Docs gets it clear victory. The most you can expect from Workspace is comments from other editors. Docs lets you edit and work on documents – in real time. As long as Microsoft does not address this point, it will pose no competition whatsoever to Google Docs. As great an organization tool as Workspace may be, it will never achieve the SaaS status that Google Docs has.
Verdict:
Microsoft Live Workspace was built to help people organize their details better. An organizing tool is what it is. The only document editing it involves is with Office – which has to be purchased separately. If you require document editing delivered as a service, and with real time collaboration, Google Docs is the obvious choice. Workspace may be prettier to look at and may offer templates for various functions but it will not displace Google Docs when it comes to collaborative file editing.