zach pippin

Chances are, if you’ve written a paper, made a spreadsheet, or a presentation on a computer ever you’ve used Microsoft Office. Even on my Mac I have a copy of Microsoft Office. I’ve used it for years with few problems.

Once again, however, Google has stepped up the game. Google Docs gives the ability to produce text, spreadsheet, and presentation documents [Word, Excel, Power Point]. I’ve been using it sporadically for the last year, but I now plan to completely replace my use of  Office with GoogleDocs.

The Good:

I feel like a broken record but being web based protects me from any danger of losing my documents and allows me to access documents from any computer. Google Gears plugin once again allows me to use GoogleDocs offline, eliminating the problem of no internet connection. Another cool feature is sharing. I can allow anyone I want to view and even edit  documents. This allows for collaboration on documents, which admittedly was cooler PW (pre-Wave).

The Bad:

GoogleDocs replaces Office for my uses, but it’s not the fully robust package the Microsoft offers. For some people that utilize Office to the fullest may be let down by the bare bones features of Docs. It lacks the ability to print straight from web. I have to export it as a .txt or PDF in order to print. I also had to use this method to submit a paper online for a class.

Botton Line:

Once again, however I’m willing to use the Google alternative despite a few drawbacks. I didn’t even mention the fact that it’s free. I paid $99 for my copy of Office and that was 4 years ago with a student discount. If you’re just using Office for simple text or spreadsheet applications I would definitely recommend switching to Google Docs.