Today, Microsoft announced that the Office Live Workspace beta is publicly available for everyone to access. The site, a free web-based extension of Microsoft Office, lets you access your documents online and share your work with others. Some say that the service's launch is a direct response to Google's entry into the web office space with their Google Docs online service. If that's so, then the question now is: did Microsoft just trump Google Docs? Or does Google Docs still rule online office suites?
Before we review the features in detail, let's look at an overview of what Office Live Workspace offers.
After signing up for Office Live and signing into the service (and no, you don't have to have an MSN email address to do so), you are presented with the "Documents" area where you can upload and view files and share them with others.
However, the defining feature is of this service are the "workspaces." The "My Workspaces" section is to the left of the main window. You can create a new workspace by clicking on the plus button next to "New Workspace."
You can start with a blank workspace or choose one of the workspace templates provided. These templates include things like "Class Workspace," "Event Workspace," "Household Workspace," "Job Search Workspace," and more. Loading one of these templates populates the Workspace with some sample documents. For example, the "Job Search Workspace" comes pre-loaded with documents like a resume, a cover letter, an interview schedule, interview preparation notes, etc.
Files can't be edited from within workspace, but clicking on "edit" will open them up in Microsoft Office (of course). Individual documents or entire workspaces can be shared with others. Using the provided Office plug-in allows for one-click access from the desktop software to the workspace.
The workspace doesn't offer offline collaboration - instead documents are "checked out" and "checked in," but the service does integrate with SharedView for real-time screen sharing.
Both Google Docs and Office Live Workspace are free services, but each has its own unique set of features.
Storage Space
Microsoft Office Live Workspace is limited to 500 MB of space, which equates to about 1000 Microsoft Office documents.
I found it hard to pin down Google Docs storage space. Going into the basic information section of docs.google.com, I found two sentences stating: "Each user has a combined limit of 5000 documents and presentations and 5000 images," and "Each user has a limit of 1000 spreadsheets." However, an actual quota in MB was not specified.
File Types
Google Docs is limited to the types of files their service allows you to edit online: HTML, .txt, .doc .rtf, .odt, .xls, .csv, .ods, .tsv, .tsb, .ppt, and .pps.
Office Live Workspace allows you to upload all kinds of files, not only Office document file types. So, in addition, you can upload .PDFs, pictures, or seemingly any kind of file except those on the blocked list, which are blocked to protect users as they are file types Windows sees as executable files.
File Sizes
Google Docs allows for documents of 500 K each, plus up to 2 MB per embedded image. Presentations can be 10 MB in size. Spreadsheets can be 10,000 rows, or up to 256 columns, or up to 100,000 cells, or up to 40 sheets - whichever limit is reached first. Each spreadsheet can have up to 20,000 cells with formulas.
Regardless of the file type, Office Live Workspace allows for individual files as large as 25 MB.
Sharing
Google Docs allows for sharing of a file or files by checking the checkbox next to them and clicking "share" from the menu. Those you are sharing with can be invited as "Collaborators" or "Viewers." You can add a short note along with the invitation. Documents and presentations can be shared with 200 combined viewers, but spreadsheets have no limit.
Similarly, Office Live Workspace allows you to share documents or workspaces with others and mark them as "editors" or "viewers". You can add a note along with the message. You can also check a box to allow "everyone to view this without signing in," and/or a box to "send me a copy of the sharing invitation." Below, a read-only preview of the file is displayed. Files or workspaces can be shared with up to 100 people.
Both offer address book integration for finding recipients' email addresses.
Collaboration
In Google Docs, collaborators have the ability to work on files together, in-real time. Ten people may edit and/or view a document or presentation at any given time. Fifty people can edit a spreadsheet at the same time.
Although Office Live Workspace allows for collaboration, it's not real-time, online collaboration. Instead, if one user is editing a file, another will be informed the file is "checked out." When they finish editing and save their changes the document is checked back in for other users to access.
Versioning
Both Google Docs and Office Live Workspace keep track of older versions of a file. You can use the web interface of either to roll back to a previous copy.
Batch Uploads
Google Docs allows you to browse for a file on your computer and upload it to the service, one-by-one. Documents and presentations can be emailed in, but not spreadsheets. In January, Google released a Document List Uploader tool that provides drag-and-drop uploads to the service. Third party tools like DocSyncer can automatically upload your documents from your PC to Google Docs.
Office Live Workspace also allows for Batch Upload, but if you're not using IE, you won't see the option. IE users can click on "Add Document" and they will be presented with the option to upload a single document or multiple documents.
Integration
Google Docs is the whole offering - there is no offline software to use, but if you needed to edit files with offline software, like Microsoft Office or Open Office, because you hit a wall with Google Docs' current abilities, you could do so by downloading the file to your PC.
However, since Office Live Workspace is the web-enabled aspect of Microsoft Office software, integration is key. From within the workspace, you can click "edit" to open the file with the Microsoft Office program. The service also offers an add-in that works with Office XP, 2003, or 2007. The add-in allows you to open and save documents to and from the workspace via the software's File Menu (XP, 2003) or Office menu (2007).
Direct URLs
Both Google Docs and Office Live Workspace offer direct links to allow you to bookmark your workspace or a workspace item (Microsoft) or a file (Google Docs) via a unique URL you can save or share with others.
Folders
Google Docs allows for folders and sub-folders to store your files.
Essentially, Office Live Workspace offers folders, too, if you consider that each "workspace" is basically a folder containing files you want to group together. You can name these anything you want, but sub-folders within them are not supported.
Saving/Exporting
Google Docs allows you to save files to your computer by saving them into (depending on their original format) a Microsoft Office, Open Office, HTML, txt, or even PDF format. You choose the format you want from the menu.
Office Live Workspace of course assumes you want to save the file in Microsoft Office format or whatever other format the file is already in (ex. PDF).
Mobile Access
Google Docs are available from any mobile device, but editing is not available.
Office Live Workspace doesn't provide mobile access, unless you're a member of the Live@edu program. The Live@edu program offers students and alumni 5 GB email inboxes, 5 GB of password-protected online storage space, shared calendars, blogging tools, and access to these services on a mobile phone, all at no cost to the schools or students.
Other Features
Google Docs
Office Live Workspace
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.Although it's very close when it comes to basic features of the two services, each stands out in its own way. Google Docs, although limited in its capabilities, offers real-time collaboration. Office Live Workspace, on the other hand, may not have the collaboration features of Google Docs, but the workspaces feature is unique. Plus, you have the capabilities of full-featured Office software available (assuming you own it)!
So, what do you think? Is Office Live Workspace a Google Docs killer? Or just a worthy competitor? Or is Google Docs the big winner?
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Office Live Workspace vs Google Docs: Feature-by-Feature Comparison.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.readwriteweb.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3467
Microsoft conceived of Office Live Workspace, a free web-based extension of Microsoft Office, as a way to counter the easy document sharing selling point of the various Web office app vendors and started a public beta last December. Today Microsoft an... Read More
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all Read/WriteWeb posts
Microsoft should have started this long time ago. I prefer Google for its simplicity and sharing documents online. Microsoft should make this available for everyone not just Office owners.
Posted by: Chris | March 4, 2008 10:45 AMVery intersting...
Office Live ...without editing options...
Vista Capable ... without ability to run it properly...
And we need M$ Office too, other wise we cannot run it..?
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.
Posted by: Sakura | March 4, 2008 11:45 AMGoogle Docs is far better than Office Live, especially thanks to its real-time collaboration and mobile access. There are some any other features of Google Docs that should have been presented, such as the chat feature in spreadsheets and presentations or the integration of Google Docs with other apps (you can schedule an event in Google Calendar from a doc, you can integrate a doc in the brand new Google Sites wiki-like application, you can transform a Google Notebook into a doc, you can use a Google Spreadsheet as a web-based bookmark storage thanks to its integration with Google Co-op subscribed links, you can also published in Blogger directly from a doc, you can use a Google Doc spreadsheet template to upload a complex Google Earth map - see Google Earth Outreach, you can access from Gmail a Google shared spreadsheet even if it has been sent as attached email, etc.).
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!
Posted by: Jrome | March 4, 2008 11:52 AMSo glad to have found this post! i have been struggling with this question ALL WEEK as we have been battling between whether we keep all the MS products we already have and use in our organization, (including office 07, sharepoint, live messenger, and an exchange server) or scrap it all to use google apps...
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?
Posted by: Kara C | March 4, 2008 11:58 AMis anyone else having trouble uploading documents to edit? I tried several different formats with strict naming conventions (full extensions, no spaces, dashes, etc.), but kept getting the same "This document failed to upload..." error.
I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.12 for OS X.
Posted by: monkeypox | March 4, 2008 12:25 PMimportant ‘Feature’ missing from your list, speed. office live (beta) or any other MS tools are so slooooooooooow , this is the achilles hill of anything ms will put out for us to use.
Posted by: stever | March 4, 2008 1:11 PM@Jrome: thanks for filling in the blanks with details on Google docs' integration aspects. :)
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.
Posted by: Sarah Perez@Kara C: read http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_sites_the_next_sharepoint_maybe_notwhy_google_apps_could_lose_the_enterprise_market.php
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
Posted by: Sarah PerezJust the fact that Office Live workspace requires you to own MS office is a no-go for me :(
Posted by: Sumit Chachra | March 4, 2008 1:47 PMI have tried both the services and as you said, it's very close. Depending upon the attribute you prioritize the most you can go for it.
Posted by: Pradeep Kumar Mishra | March 4, 2008 2:13 PMHey Sarah,
If you want to focus on "everyman" features, why not to highlight the awesome GoogleLookUp function?
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 ;-)
Posted by: Jrome | March 4, 2008 2:23 PMEvery time I attempt to use Google Docs for something constructive, it always falls down with missing features.
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.
Posted by: Andy Beard | March 4, 2008 2:42 PMI like Zoho better than either of them.
Posted by: terry | March 4, 2008 2:58 PM@Jrome *that's* pretty cool!
Posted by: Sarah PerezMicrosoft Office Live Workspace apparently does not work with Linux. That sucks.
Posted by: Dominik Roblek | March 4, 2008 3:58 PMA few points to make:
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.
Posted by: Leo | March 4, 2008 4:54 PMAh, and I just noticed, Sarah, that you write for Microsoft. Not saying that means you're a bad writer, but it helps to understand the perspective of the article, as it seemed to ignore many of the faults of the MS service.
Posted by: Leo | March 4, 2008 5:00 PMThey all make a wrong hit.
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.
Posted by: kentsin | March 4, 2008 5:06 PMIn the real-world, Google Docs, Open Office and Ubuntu, etc. are so far behind it's pathetic. Who uses this stuff for actual work? Absolutely no one that I know of, and MS Office works so well there's minimal incentive to change. And since everyone use MS, it all plays together nicely. If Live Office turns out to be a useful addition to Office, I can see it quickly stomping Google Docs.
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.
Posted by: Brian | March 4, 2008 5:10 PMOffice wins hands down. Google is a pretender at this point. It was only a matter of time. I'm sure MS is just getting started too.
Posted by: Travis | March 4, 2008 7:09 PMOffice is light years ahead of anything Google is putting out now. It's not because MS is better than Google - MS just have MORE experience in this realm. They've been producing Office for years now and have the experience to build off. This is like people trying to compare Google Sites to Sharepoint which is even more laughable.
Posted by: Kevin | March 4, 2008 7:26 PM@leo thanks for noticing that Sarah works for Microsoft!
That what explains why she CANNOT conclude that Microsoft Live Workspace is worse than Google Docs and ask us to do so after a quite biased review (all those missing "details" are quite surprising from an IT Professional...).
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 :)
Posted by: Jrome | March 4, 2008 7:27 PMIt's interesting that some of the commenters are comparing Google Docs with MS Office. Google Docs isn't meant to replace Office -- it's meant to be an online alternative for those of us for whom speed, mobility, cost, collaboration, simplicity and interaction with other online tools is more important than a zillion features we don't use in a limited desktop suite that is sluggish and expensive.
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.
Posted by: Leo | March 4, 2008 7:40 PMFor all online backup, file sharing and storage related info, I recommend this website:
http://www.BackupReview.info
Posted by: Jenny | March 4, 2008 8:21 PMHere's two of the "extra features" for Office Live that you mentionned:
Well,- 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
Posted by: WindPower | March 4, 2008 8:25 PM@Leo - good point, re:apples and oranges.
@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?
Posted by: Sarah PerezMICROSOFT IS WAY LATE TO THE GAME.
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.
Posted by: John Doe | March 4, 2008 10:17 PMThis is not an apples to apples comparison simply because the philosphy is different in case of Google Docs. I can use ANY PC anywhere to access my documents as long as I have a supported browser and a decent connection. In case of Office Live, I still need MS Office which defeats the purpose of having an online workspace in the first place.
Posted by: Deepak | March 4, 2008 10:18 PMDoes microsoft's office-live-workspace allow the users to create the documents offline and upload them without having to login to the account like in eDeskOnline.
Posted by: kalivd | March 4, 2008 10:31 PMThe advantage of offline editing software with rich client features is very real. Google should work with Open Office to offer the type of integration that MS offers.
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 :)
Posted by: Sameera | March 4, 2008 10:50 PMvery helpful review. Thanks.
Posted by: Rocky Fu | March 5, 2008 12:12 AMRocky
I agree, that there must be a comparison between the two (Google Documents / Office Live), but the difference is not only whether Google Documents support collaboration and Office Live is not. Other feature may well matter, but the most important part is: You don't need any additional software to use Google Documents. Let's repeat it:
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.
Posted by: Igor | March 5, 2008 2:27 AMwhat about zoho??
Posted by: Mido | March 5, 2008 3:16 AMI haven't used office live enough to compare.
Posted by: White Eagle | March 5, 2008 3:48 AMOne feature I think, Google can improve is versioning. Even little used docs have 100s of versions for every few seconds, making it real pain to use it.
If two diff. people are simultaneously editing a doc there is no wey to revert changes made by a person.
What is wrong with you people? You are acting like the U.S. government is mandating everyone use MS. The point of the post was to bring up the similarities and differences between Google and Microsoft, not force anyone into using one or the other.
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.
Posted by: Bill Arneson | March 5, 2008 5:27 AMThanks for the comparison. I've used Google Docs & Google Spreadsheet which, like any tool, work great for the right job (as Andy Beard says above you can't do pivot tables). I also own Office, so maybe I'll go take a crack at the Office Live Workspace and see for myself to see if it's worth it.
Posted by: Kids Wish Network | March 5, 2008 7:41 AMGoogle wins hands down in that you need M$ Office to use Office Live.
I don't have office on my machine.
Google wins, hooray!
Posted by: Werd | March 5, 2008 10:04 AMThe comparison in Information Week concludes that Office Live Workspace can't compete with Google Docs: http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/03/microsofts_offi.html
Because, one more time, OLW is only a workaround for Office.
Posted by: Jrome | March 5, 2008 10:40 AM@Bill Arneson
Obviously, no one cares about who use what IF it involves only personal use. But for people "collaborating", it matters crucially to get people using the very best solution because you can't freely collaborate with people using Office (just try to edit the doc at the same time...).
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.
Posted by: Jrome | March 5, 2008 11:20 AMThe full picture may be to compare MS Workspaces to Google Sites. Google sites seems to be more robust adding some features that you do not get from just using Google Docs. Would love to see a side by side of that.
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.
Posted by: Matt Wolf | March 5, 2008 12:41 PMCheck out this essay on the history of Microsoft.
Posted by: JP | March 5, 2008 12:45 PMGoogle is easily the winner, as it was the first to put us into a functional virtual office and most importantly, I do not have to own software unless I need a more beefy set of tools. Lets face it google is the Online apple.
Posted by: James Brown | March 5, 2008 12:56 PMGoogle rocks and as I only have microsofts'
Posted by: kevin kiernan | March 5, 2008 12:56 PMcastrated and retarded cousin- Works, it's
free and practical.One major drawback,though, with
google docs, is it's limited document size.I found
I had to save one document into several goggle docs
and I'm just a private individual.However I'm sure this will expand in the future and it is clean, crispy and simple to use.
There is now a plugin for OpenOffice that allows you to upload and open docs from your Google Docs account. It appears to be the same thing you can do with MS Office & Office Live.
MS Office 2007 is pretty, but does not yet have anything via Word and Excel that I use and that OpenOffice doesn't have.
Posted by: Jbro | March 5, 2008 12:58 PMGoogle for the win, Microsoft is just butt hurt they didn't think of it first and their market is tanking after the release of Vista.
Posted by: Anonymus | March 5, 2008 1:00 PMHmm, I have yet to try Office Live. But Google Docs is pretty good.
Posted by: LLY | March 5, 2008 1:18 PMThe entire Zoho suite of online applications is WAY better then either of these.
Posted by: Brad | March 5, 2008 1:27 PMI feel comparing the two is apples and oranges. It is the fact that Google Docs is a web-based, rich internet application that works just as well as a desktop based application (and in some cases better) that makes it what it is. I believe one day there will be a fully web-based OS and we will be able to run all of our software off the internet in a manner reminiscent of the mainframe-terminal relationship. Better for collaboration, fits better into our current paradigm of multiple portals for a single users data (computer at home, computer at work, laptops, cellphones, etc.) and also is better for the environment! (Ok maybe that last part is a stretch.)
Posted by: ajlozier | March 5, 2008 1:35 PMms has far more to go just to catch up with google. ms is still scratching tip of online collaboration suite iceberg.
Posted by: firstname lastname | March 5, 2008 1:43 PMgood luck ms. i am with google and not looking back.
Sarah sounds like a Microsoft fanboy to me. Microsoft always tends to over bloat their software whether online or not. The last thing I want is a bunch of useless options that only .01% of the users actually use taking 50% of my computer's resources. Google docs & spreadsheets is simple and easy to use from any environment, workstation, or even hand heald and DOESN'T require any other pricey software.
Posted by: Al | March 5, 2008 1:55 PMI bet MS workspace won't work on Firefox or any other browser.
Posted by: Palestina | March 5, 2008 1:57 PM"Integration
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.
Posted by: doug | March 5, 2008 2:05 PMAh 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) and have no appreciation of the work the has come before them. Old hands hate change and laugh at the newbs, because the newbs will be old-hands one day themselves.
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.
Posted by: Cracked Up | March 5, 2008 2:25 PMI was initially excited about Office Live Workspace, but its fallen short of my expectations. To me it just looks like a document repository.
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.
Posted by: PPX | March 5, 2008 2:36 PMI found this whole article to severely downplay Google's obvious advantages in almost every aspect. From the same point, the author neglected substantial detail on the limitations of Microsoft's Live Workspace.
I was interested in seeing what workspace had to offer, but was extremely offended at the context.
Posted by: Shaze | March 5, 2008 2:47 PMGuys try Zoho.
Posted by: rishi | March 5, 2008 2:55 PMIts has better features than google docs.. and its all ONLINE
The biggest question for me as a linux user is how well does office live work with linux? one of the very nice features of google doc's is the platform independence across mac, linux and windows. That said if there was some form of built in support for linux then i think it would be a pretty good showing from MS
Posted by: Pete | March 5, 2008 3:05 PMI think the big advantage of Google Docs is that it is the application. It is browser based, so operating system is not a factor in who can read/write/collaborate on the document. This platform neutrality is the real power.
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.
Posted by: Andrew Callum | March 5, 2008 3:31 PMHUGE difference in these products. M/S requires you to be at your PC with a copy of M/S Office installed. Google is accessible from anywhere and is free.
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?
Posted by: David Tussey | March 5, 2008 4:05 PMI think this sort of competition is great. I use Office on my work laptop and Google Docs/OpenOffice on my personal laptop. If I were google I would try to make an offline version and/or plug-into OpenOffice
Posted by: Sayan | March 5, 2008 4:41 PM"Microsoft has hampered the development of personal computing for over 20 years".
There fixed that for you.
"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.
Posted by: Phil | March 5, 2008 5:48 PM@ Cracked Up:
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'.
Posted by: TimStalin | March 5, 2008 6:03 PMDoncha think that if you know how many documents you can post AND you know the max kb size for each document + embedded image... you could calculate pretty easily from there how much storage Google Docs offers?
... Just a thought haha ;-) Good blog otherwise.
Posted by: Brad | March 5, 2008 6:12 PMHi
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
Posted by: Jeff | March 5, 2008 6:36 PMThis is a very interesting blog. I learned many things. :)
Posted by: Shopping Cart Software | March 5, 2008 10:30 PMYou're missing out several aspects. First, there's Google Sites which is the real competitor to MS Workspaces. Second, Google Docs can also provide notifications but via RSS only. Last, Google Docs can be used without having paid for MS Word first and can even read Word documents. I'd say that gives it an edge. But even so there's something compelling about Google Docs' simplicity and ease of access. I've used every version of Word since 6 but I find myself using the Docs more and more for draft documents.
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.
Posted by: Dominik Lukes | March 5, 2008 11:37 PM@ Jrome
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.
Posted by: Bill Arneson | March 6, 2008 4:59 AMHave you considered updating this comparison to include Office Live Workspace? I believe that might provide a more realistic comparison. However, you would need to consider that Live WorkSpace is still in beta.
Regards,
Robert.
Posted by: Robert | March 6, 2008 6:03 AMCorrection, You are comparing Live Workspaces but you leave out significant information related to some key features such as desktop sharing and the office plug-in utilities. These really deserve more coverage than what was provided.
Robert.
Posted by: Robert | March 6, 2008 6:06 AMfor the moment ... i'll stick with google docs ...
Posted by: subcorpus | March 6, 2008 6:40 AMMS is too slow and doesnt offer much features ...
and i hate switching ... as all my contacts use google docs as well ...
MS:: give us something we can use ...
Try Sosius.com a much better offering IMO.
Posted by: Andrew | March 6, 2008 7:20 AMThe MS Office integration is nice, if you have MS Office. If Google developed an OpenOffice plug in to offer the same offline integration as Office Live, they may just have an Office killer. Personally though, I'm a big fan of the Zoho products.
Posted by: AllAboutTheBen | March 6, 2008 7:59 AMThis is a great article, I think I will try this out. I do agree with an earlier post, though that the beauty of Google Docs is that you do not have to purchase Office or any other product.
Posted by: Amy | March 6, 2008 10:51 AMThanks for the comparison. It's very helpful. One thing I'd like to see in these tools is an easy way users to export documents to other online applications (without having to download it to my computer first and then uploading it elsewhere).
Posted by: YItna Firdyiwek | March 6, 2008 7:35 PMYou may want to compare it with ZOHO instead, more apps and more features. Checkout zoho.com
Posted by: sam_dal | March 6, 2008 11:28 PMI have used both and google docs is easier and faster. When using google docs everything just flows better and much more user friendly. I found that Office Live Workspace is a bit awkward to use.
Posted by: Work at Home | March 7, 2008 2:29 AMI think they are really not comparing this to the right product -- when compared to SharePoint, Google is completely blown out of the water in every single category.
Posted by: David H | March 7, 2008 11:25 AMI have used both the collabration tools.but i see that Google Docs is more easy way to use and arrange it.Even though it has got some restrictions in fonts colours rows tables in excel, and presentation, they will find it more valuable and they wil make it work.In future Google Docs will give more option and more space regarding the size.Even though google doc,google domain expert and other google tools are seperate i hope they will soon been combined and will be a big rock of Microsoft.
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 .
Posted by: Balamurugan | March 7, 2008 3:07 PMI think you overlooked Google Docs' most important advantage: mobility. You can edit you GDocs anywhere you please, at an internet cafe, a hotel business center, even on your iPhone, regardless of whether the device you are editing from has any software installed other than a compatible web browser. Documents on Office Live Workspace, on the other hand, can only be edited on computers that have MS Office installed, which might not be the case in that business center PC and which is certainly not the case in my iPhone. ;)
Cheers!
Posted by: Pedro Torres | March 10, 2008 3:14 AMOn statement,
Regardless of the file type, Office Live Workspace allows for individual files as large as 25 MB.
Live workspaces actually has individual file limit as 30 MB.
Posted by: Jigar Mehta | March 10, 2008 4:42 PMI endorse the views of Mr.Balamurugan | March 7, 2008 3:07 PM and I too experienced the same way.No doubt, Google is more userfriendly and hassles free whereas it is not so with our MS Live office- My space.When uploading a PPP, I encountered nil result and also confusion prevailed.
Posted by: Dr.Gurusamy Gandhi | March 12, 2008 1:24 AMFinally my attemt was abortive and waste of time too.
Something more needs to be done in order to make it user friendly with only few clicks.
I endorse the views of Mr.Balamurugan | March 7, 2008 3:07 PM and I too experience dthe same way.Google is more userfriendly and hassles free whereas it is not so withMS Live office My space and when uploading a PPP , I encountered nil result and also confusion prevails ,Finally my attemt was abortive and waste of time too.
Posted by: Dr.Gurusamy Gandhi | March 12, 2008 1:37 AMI think that I have ooo for the havy things to do in office things. the collaboration is more worthy thamn the f**ing things offered by microsoft. gugl rules!
Posted by: Ruben B | March 12, 2008 2:14 PMThe Gaggle thing is an imitation and a lame one at that, DUH!
Posted by: steveballmer | March 12, 2008 8:51 PMVery Nice!
Posted by: chris | March 13, 2008 8:33 AMFree and the ability to collaborate in real time vs. a few hundred $ per seat and no real collaboration.
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.
Posted by: Mark S | March 15, 2008 11:39 PMI think GOOGLE docs still has the edge unless you have spent the BIG bucks to own a copy of MS Office. Being an Open Office person, I have been using GOOGLE docs for a few projects. It has all the basic tools to create, share, or collaborate on a project. Tom
Posted by: Tom Linton | March 24, 2008 6:38 AMThis is another example of how a large corp like microsoft has tried to push something as new that they have had for a long time. This is nothing new, it's Microsoft Sharepoint Server made available to the public. This is not innovation.
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.
Posted by: JT | March 29, 2008 7:33 AMI still more like google way. I just need basic word processing. It's FREE! compare to the big bug for MS Office.
Posted by: Andy T | April 1, 2008 1:15 AMWhat I really need from desktop software is features like NewGator FeedDaemon syncing between instances. I switched from Google Reader which is much slower than desktop app. So, once again, I expect web-aware desktop applications.
Posted by: Yuriy | April 1, 2008 11:39 AMall of us talk about linux and mac but how many home users have linux and mac os
Posted by: ajay | April 1, 2008 11:15 PMcountry like india where buying a computer is a big thing .
microsoft os are simply gr8 we all use microsoft os and always talk about the linux
always use the microsoft office and talk about the google docs and other document software
google docs even can not be compare with the office 1997
office 1997 is far better then google docs 2008