These kind of tricks are good to lie to a 3-yrs old child or a mentally disabled person.

Every sane thinking will conclude...
Why pay for M$ Office when OpenOffice is free...
Why using Office Live when you cannot edit docs when there is Google Docs?
Why using Vista when there is.... e.g. Ubuntu?
Why buying XBOX360 when there is RROD?
Why using Microsoft product by any means?

Price is not the biggest problem. Make good product and I will buy it, I dare you M$. I HAVE the money.

You missed so many advantages of a very web-based workspace, and you seem to ignore that Google is preparing to launch a Google-Gears enable version of their suite that will let you access and EDIT shared docs OFFLINE directly from your Internet Browser. This has been officially announced and is currently tested by Google teams.

MS Office Live is a "workaround" to retain users. To keep Office is to play against the "in the cloud" computing trend, which is the future of collaboration. If you like a continually improved editor, don't wait years for the next Office version: Google release amazing features every week!

as far as the editing the document online, i had no problem doing so when i created documents.. so far, not bad..

but i am very eager to speak with those of you who may be in the same boat with me?

I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.12 for OS X.

I actually didn't know you could schedule a calendar appt from a doc...never used that, I guess...I schedule appts in my calendar :)

You can, however, publish to a blog from Word,and not just Blogger. Word supports Blogger, Spaces, Wordpress, Typepad, Community Server, Sharepoint, and "other" where you can fill in the API/post URL. So, to be clear, blog publishing is not a feature of Google Docs being a "web office" suite. (Heck, some of people's fav blog editors like Windows Live Writer & ecto are offline tools.)

chat - well, that was just an oops!

but notebook, co-op, and Google earth integration...well, that's just getting kind of esoteric...I mean, these aren't "everyman" features. Although they point to, as you say, the advantages to being web-based, following that logic, I could counter by saying that desktop software has advantages that come from them being robust software suites and *not* web-based.

Does that make Microsoft Office or Open Office better because they have features Google Docs doesn't? The features that they offer aren't necessarily things everyone uses, same as notebook, co-op, and earth integration. So mentioning those types of things alone doesn't really prove to me as a user that Google Docs is the better choice for me. It comes down to the feature set I need for the work I have to do.

For some, the ability to integrate with Google Earth is going to be awesome. But for others it's going to be things that traditional office software does and if you want to do a real feature-by-feature comparison, it's desktop software that is more feature-rich in the end...*at least for now.* (Can I point back to our previous comment of the day: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_docs_fail.php ?)

Anyway, I think that the real battle in the end is going to be web office vs software + services. Unless web office software becomes as feature-rich as its offline cousins, then it will never be good enough for everyone. Even if Google Docs released a new feature every day, it could be years until it caught up with what desktop software does now.

it's long, but worth your time esp before making a big switch like that

also check out http://www.microsoft.com/online/default.mspx

Here are the few steps:
1. Create a Google Spreadsheet
2. Tape "bmw" in A2, "mercedes" in A3 and "nissan" in A4
3. Select A2:A4 and, while holdind the Ctrl key, expand your selection until A50.
4. Say "wow"
5. Tape "employees" from B2 to B50.
6. Enter "=googlelookup(A2; B2)" in C2 and expand the formula until C50
7. "wow", again

Here are some of the types of entities you can access using GoogleLookup, and a few popular attribute names:

Countries and Territories (like "Burkina Faso"): population, capital, largest city, gdp
U.S. States (like "Tennessee"): area, governor, nickname, flower
Rivers (like "Amazon River"): origin, length
Cities and Towns (like "Chicago"): state, mayor, elevation
Musicians (like "John Lennon"): date of birth, place of birth, nationality
Actors (like "Audrey Hepburn"): date of birth, place of birth, nationality
Politicians (like "Anwar Al-Sadat"): date of birth, place of birth, nationality
U.S. Presidents (like "Zachary Taylor"): date of birth, place of birth, political party
Baseball Players (like "Wade Boggs"): games, at bats, earned run average, position
Chemical Elements (like "Helium"): atomic number, discovered by, atomic weight
Chemical Compounds (like "Isopropyl Alcohol"): chemical formula, melting point, boiling point, density
Stars (like "Betelgeuse"): constellation, distance, mass, temperature
Planets (like "Saturn"): number of moons, length of day, distance from sun, atmosphere
Dinosaurs (like "Velociraptor"): height, weight, when it lived
Ships (like "USS Chesapeake"): length, displacement, complement, commissioned
Companies (like "Hewlett-Packard"): employees, ceo, ticker

9. Take a look at other Google functions in the "Google" tab of this page: http://documents.google.com/support/spreadsheets/bin/answer.py?answer=82712&ctx=
10. "wow", again and again

These are the reasons why web-based apps are far more superior than desktop-based ones. And with more and more microformats, I bet this funtion will definitely improve the way we organize information. That could make a pretty corporate goal ;-)

I have haven't managed to find an equivalent to pivot tables, and whilst it is meant to allow you to use Xpath, it seems to be such a limited implementation

There is some really cool stuff I would love to do with Google Docs, because in theory it will be able to pull API data direct from servers, but in practice it tends to fall down.

1. I'm surprised you didn't do a price comparison. In order to actually use Office Live Workspace for actual work, you need to own MS Office. That's typically several hundred dollars, not a small piece of information in this comparison.

2. There's also the difficulty of access with Office Live Workspace. For example, with Google Office, I can create a document on my Mac, then go to the library and access and edit it with a Linux machine, then go to my mom's house and use her PC to access and edit. Regardless of OS or location or what software you have. With Office Live Workspace, you need to have the software installed and apparently it doesn't work on Linux. That's a major drawback for those of us who require ultimate mobility.

3. Speed is also a huge issue. Creating and editing and saving a Google Doc is a snap. MS Office documents stored online must be downloaded ... then you have to open MS Office (which takes forever to load) ... then you have to work with the sluggish MS Office software (very bloated bec of all the features) then you have to save and upload. Then, if your friend wants to work on that document, he has to repeat the whole procedure over and over again. It's frustratingly slow (I've tried it), especially when you're used to the speed of Google Docs.

4. If you have lots of documents, as I do, (in the hundreds), Google Docs is also much better for organization. Not only can you tag things for easier browsing, but the search works fantastically. I don't need to worry about organization, because I just type in something related to the document (title, something in the content) and it pops up instantly. With Office Live Workspace, you have to browse through your workspaces to find stuff, then browse back to the other workspace to find another document, and so forth. It's clunky and frustrating.

5. You mentioned the collaboration issues, but it seemed to be minimized in the article. It doesn't highlight how important collaboration is these days to most information workers. Having to check out documents, edit them, then check them back in, and then wait for your colleague to do the same, and then repeat the process ... who is going to want to do that? I collaborate with partners using Google Docs and the chat feature almost daily, and if we had to follow that cumbersome process, we'd never get any work done. MS doesn't seem to understand how work is changing, how people are working these days, and seems stuck in the old, 1980s offices. Google seems to understand how people work, more and more, and if people are stuck in the MS way of working, they are going to be left behind.

This article is interesting, but it seems to have been written by someone who uses MS Office regularly, as opposed to someone who actually uses both products on a daily basis. I've used both regularly and I know that there's no comparison.

There will never enough power for browser to replace apps.

There will never satisfied to store files locally.

Nobody will trust a vender completely.

To serve a file to apps, they should break it up into smaller pieces, serve them, update, combine again all live.

The app fetch necessary pieces, edit them, update them, delete, add new pieces, all in the backoffice as the user working.

The ability to break a file into several pieces and store in different location and strips, encrypt, author rights from a central point of control with pre-set rules, notice the person if certain criteria occur.

The terminal is the central control and front-end of all information. There should be openness for operators.

as for search over these information is completely another stories, the info is classified into layers, the top layer is unsearchable, only available to the central control. The layer at the bottom is complete clear, full text search is possible. The layers in between use various method to generate keys which allow search but without revalve actual information.

There should be carefully distribute the loads from the front/back-end of the system.

The current system just do not work.

Oh, also from the real-world, storing and editing docs in the cloud is a non-starter for most people. Nothing like handing over sensitive product plans or HR reports to a search provider. Thank you, but no.

The very question cannot be wether Google Docs is better than Office Live Workspace since Live Workspace is an add-on.

Google Docs aims at providing a solution to "share and collaborate in real time": it hasn't revealed all its promise, is still in development and will ULTIMATELY be an alernative to Office (and all Microsoft add-ons). In the other hand, Office is a mature and out of breath software.

No one should talk about replacing Office with Google Docs, but connsider the crucial insufficiencies of Office. Collaboration matters more everyday and soon, the question will be "can I keep Office and do without a real collaborative tool?". At that moemnt, Google Docs will be Gears-enabled and I hope, Sarah will be more objective :)

They can't be compared because they're apples and oranges. If you're looking for MS Office online, you won't find it. You'll get MS Office plus Workspace, which is really just Office plus online storage. That's been available for years.

If you're looking for something that is a true online solution for those of us who work with others online, use many online tools and need to be mobile and need to work quickly ... the only option is Google Docs, as the MS options are not aimed at this crowd.

http://www.BackupReview.info

• Office Live Workspace offers some nice features, such as the ability to comment on files stored on the service.
• Also, an "Activities" feature keeps track of workplace activities with the new activity panel and can send you notifications when changes are made in the workspace.

• You can insert comments in Google Docs as well (Insert -> Comment)
• Every Google Doc includes an RSS feed of modifications made by anyone working on the document

@Jrome Also, to clarify re: Channel 10 - not a secret...google ;) my name...or my handle ("sarahintampa"). However, I need to point out, I'm not an employee of theirs. Calling out my IT cred, though? Harsh! (jk) :) The truth is there were times in my IT career that I would have definitely deployed Google Apps and times I wouldn't have - for ex: instead of the Open Office software I deployed to the stores of the furniture company I worked for, I would have killed to have everyone just using Google Docs. However, taking away Microsoft programs from the employees of the financial institution I worked for? Not on your life!

I like both products - Office & Google. I use both depending on what I need to do. Collaborate/share a basic doc/sheet? Google. Advanced stuff? Microsoft. It really depends on what you need. The ideal product for me would be a web office suite that had all the features of desktop software. I think the audience of a blog about web apps is going to have a preference, though. :)

Also, objective? LOL - did you confuse me with a journalist by accident?

FIRST SEARCH

THEN SOCIAL

NOW ONLINE SOFTWARE

They should have done this ages ago, instead they were so focused on anti-competitiveness to corner the market.

At the end of the day, the truth is I'll always be using MS Office and would do so for many more years. But, the fact is if Google and Open Office can work together and improve those products that would definitely bring down the price of MS Office. Who knows, if they are really good I might even switch one day :)

You don't need any additional software to use Google Documents.

Without Microsoft Office, Office Live is basically useless. Ok, most of you may say, that most people do have Microsoft Office installed (btw. which Office versions are supported?). And you may be right, but there are quite a few people out there using Open Office by now. So, if a piece of software is able bring users to switch from Microsoft Office to Open Office, why, after some major improvements, wouldn't it be possible that users switch from Microsoft Office to Google Documents?

Let's remember, Google Documents is free, you don't have to install anything and it's still a very young project in progress. There is going to be a major change, unless Microsoft can do anything against that. Office Live isn't not that answer to Google Documents.

Since I am a reasonable person with thinking skills, I will decide for myself which applications will work best for my situation. I also run an IT department, I will base my recommendations for the company on facts and knowledge that are pertinent to my situation.

I can see some of you are upset with Microsoft because they make money...get over it. Microsoft has aided in the development of personal computing for over 20 years. Google has also done an amazing job taking the Internet to the next level and bringing it into our everyday lives.

Both companies are very successful. Both companies make more money than any of us can imagine. Both companies make our technical lives better. The future will include both companies for a long, long time.

I don't have office on my machine.

Google wins, hooray!

Because, one more time, OLW is only a workaround for Office.

Thus, by proving the quality and superiority of a web-based editor, you can make people adopt innovative solutions by informing them, so that you won't have to keep "the old and boring way".

Gmail is said to be better than Hotmail. However, we don't mind if you keep Hotmail because we can still send you email. But with Google Docs, which allows us to edit a doc without worrying about who does what, when and how, we need collaborators to choose between two solutions. And by "choose", I mean take the best one and not the more wide-spread one.

Since Microsoft has released a so-called "docs sharing platform", I want people to know what the promise of Google Docs is before MS succeed in walling in its users in an "Office system". Listen to Hotmail users who recognize that they should move to Gmail but claim that "I can't change, all my contacts have my hotmail address, which is my MSN address, which is also my login address for all those services...” As far as I know, Hotmail prevents its users to automatically forward emails to non-Microsoft email services. Microsoft has killed many services in this way, and in the future, people may say "I do know Google Docs is better, but I'm already on Office Live Workspace (...)".

This would be so sad.

When all is said and done though, the ability to collaborate real time and the web based editor make Google Docs the winner unless you really need some of the advanced features of work and excel.

MS Office 2007 is pretty, but does not yet have anything via Word and Excel that I use and that OpenOffice doesn't have.

Google Docs is the whole offering - there is no offline software to use. ..... you could do so by downloading the file to your PC"

Or you could use
OpenOffice.org2GoogleDocs

to Export and Import your documents to Google Docs from OpenOffice.org, and from OpenOffice.org to Google Docs.

It is easy for the newbs to toss stones at the giant on the hill, because they know he's old and won't come chasing after them. They hope to pelt him down with fine-stones and anti-competitive-stones and expect him to just die a graceful death. They want the giant to go away and let them run their crazy world getting everything for free (without, of course, thinking of the liberies they are giving up for this "free" stuff). They want to be paid for their individual work, but don't believe the giant should make money. Giants are bad... everyone should be equal. Noone should pay for anything... unless it is for their job, then it's ok. Copyrights are bad. Licenses are bad. Movies should be free! But don't forget to pay them for their work!

People have let a big genie out of the bottle for the sake of "free" and because they hate giants. They're creating a whole new set of giants though... and boy is it going to be fun to watch them defend those giants 20 years from now when the new crop of newbs arrive.

Why would you not include real-time collaboration and more importantly online editing? Microsoft still doesn't get the open model that Google is following. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I was interested in seeing what workspace had to offer, but was extremely offended at the context.

MS's offering is still tied to their application running on your client. All that is in the cloud is the data. This makes working from different locations on different devices far more difficult.

No real surprise, MS's business is selling software. Google's is driving ad revenues through traffic.

There really is no comparison. One is a desktop product with online storage. One is a cloud computing application. Oh...did I mention it's free?

"Ah yes; the classic battle of the newbies verses the old hands. Newbs never remember what got their world where it is (hello: Microsoft got your world where it is) "
Yeah, stuck with some crappy binary format for simplest of filetypes, viruses, bloated IT departments, products that get rushed out the door etc.
I am not so noob that I dont remember how the internet came about (nothing to do with MS), or how machines were mechanical in the early days, or how xerox shared the mouse.
I was VERY happy when I moved the office from Microsoft to Open Source solutions, mostly do to the freedom of how I built the IT rather then the cost itself, although the easier to manage and more productive software did give me an advantage.
We all like to make money, and MS does its best to lock you in, reducing your ability to make money by developing new ways to get revenue. Open your eyes and look around, this isnt new, MS has just been trying to keep you from seeing it. They have been late to everything, including the internet (Gates himself said that no one would want to network computers), and they have no interest in making computing better for you.

And they follow this rule again. Google is truly doing something unique. MS is nothing special here. Ever wonder why Sharepoint needs third party search applications? They are so bad at doing things its amazing anyone puts up with them.

You seem to think you live in a different universe than you actually live in.

When you start using time frames like 20 years when taking about the computer/software/online industry you are just completely out of touch.

Windows 95 came out a little over 12 years ago. Google was created less than 10 years ago and went public only 3.5 years ago. For all we know both of these companies could vanish from the map within the next 10 years if they fail to remain relevant.

Google Docs fills a roll that Microsoft's software offering isn't able to (or has chosen not to) -- how can you call people naive for using it?

One other thing to remember -- is was common for people to 'buy' web browsers up until Microsoft started giving IE away for 'free'.

... Just a thought haha ;-) Good blog otherwise.

i am new to this kind of "techk" talk. But i think that it is very interestetging. Coulde someone please tell me what is "google", and "Live Workspase", and stuff? I also, dont really understand this whole essay, what it is abbout. could sombody please, kindly, nicekly tell me what it is about?

Thanks

Jeff

On the other hand, the MS Word revision control is far superior. On a text with multiple edits, it's much better to see all the changes at one glance rather than having to fish through multiple versions. Google (and others) could do much much better there. In many ways that's the last thing that's keeping me with Word on collaborative writing projects.

I do not see how you attacking Hotmail helps your arguement? I've had my email address since MS first acquired them in 1997. Why is it wrong that I am happy with a product and I choose to stick with what works best for me?

When it comes down to it, you are a religious nut. The Google God. You base your arguments on emotions. The emotion of loving Google, the emotion of hating Microsoft. So, feel free to use any free application you can get your hands on, but please to not think it is your job to convert the world to Google.

Regards,

Robert.

Robert.

While i used Microsoft office live and found every bit strange to know the environment and found tools bit hard to find except basic introduction page.It was realy hard to find the document and sharing option.And i still not sure how to edit the word document online like GoogleDoc.I have been editing the google doc onliine and sharing with my friends.I am not still sure how to do it in Office Live Workspace .

Cheers!

Live workspaces actually has individual file limit as 30 MB.

The only issue is that what is going on here is such a massive paradigm shift that most people aren't grasping it.

I am on a mac, I have office 2008 and IWork 08, both are great products - really well done. Both are way beyond what I need 99% of the time for document creation. It tunrs out that what I really need is access to my documents from my iphone as well as any computer I own or use out in the world and painless collaboration / sharing with others. The fact that I get *real time* collaboration with google docs is an incredible bonus.

Or maybe the bonus is all of my documents, backed up in multiple data centers, and accessible from a web browser.

In any event, creating a list, sharing it with my wife and accessing it anywhere I go is really powerful stuff.

Where MS could rule the roost would be in offering a complete online document suite that does not require proprietary software, but allows business users and the public to generate and share information online. 99% of all users do not need half of the features that are in the office suite. Furthermore, corporations would love to have the ability to control the branding, formatting and fonts used by employees. This would allow for standardization of document generation. Show me that and make is available in the as free to the public or the new sharepoint for corporations and you will then have innovation. I doubt MS will ever do it though because it does not make changes that are best for the user. Only their bottom line.

Google docs is a start. It's not perfect, but it works. If google adds the ability to upload other file types, MS will really be in trouble. If Google Docs is integrated better with other services like email they will be in an even better position.

I look forward to what to the future holds.