April 10, 2010

Google Docs and Office Discussion Summary

As usual, I summarized our discussion on Google Docs, Zoho Docs, and MS Office here:
  • Most people (if not all) like the idea of web based document editing and management.
  • Many people do realize that their pros and cons clearly.
  • I roughly categorized and counted your opinions, as shown in the following chart. Of the people who prefer Google Docs, 19 of them specifically prefer Google Docs over Zoho Docs while others did not try Zoho.

Google Chart

Some selected student comments:

  • Overall, all three applications are very god useful in many ways. I'm glad that i know about all 3 for any work i may have to do in the future.
  • Overall I like google docs better than Microsoft office especially for group projects and I prefer Microsoft office when working independently.
  • One of the drawbacks of Google Docs is that it does not provide as many editing options as Microsoft Office.
  • I think I'll keep using the Office products and if I need to share the file with someone I will upload it to Google Docs, but I don't plan on creating documents in Google Docs directly.
  • Clearly having the ability to access files from anywhere is a very attractive quality, especially to an irresponsible student like myself that habitually leaves disk drives in every computer I stick them into.
  • Ms office will, in my opinion, be phased out if not by consumer demand for a google doc like application, but an evolution of office software itself to a more web based program.
  • I compare using Google Docs to using a Mac for the first time after using a PC all your life.
  • (Zoho) seems like it is google docs on steroids.
  • Based on my experience (and i have been a Microsoft user for Years) I like Zoho a lot, i think Zoho is very straight forward, not complicated, and you can also work offline.
  • Base on my brief yet precise summary of Zoho Docs it’s rather easy to come to the conclusion that Zoho Docs out muscle Google Docs in terms of features and options. Zoho Docs is the ultimate online office application. I would like to encourage everyone to take a look at Zoho Docs if you haven’t yet. I promise you will not regret it.

8 comments:

David Youmans said...

I'm really quite surprised at the response being overwhelmingly so "pro" Google Docs. I guess a lot of that has to do with the fact that our presentations had to be done using Google Docs. Also, it's interesting to me how some people think Microsoft Office will be phased out....it's been there way too long and has way too many users that are so comfortable with it. Plus, most business that I have knowledge of still rely heavily on MS Office.

Dominique said...

I was not surprised at the results being in favor for Google Docs. Google Docs is very convenient and easy to work with. One factor that I think won everyone over was the ability to edit documents from different computers at different times. No one had to worry about working around other people's schedules and the assignment still got completed on time. I think that Google Docs will become more and more popular as time goes on but I don't think it will beat out Microsoft Office.

blblackburn11 said...

I do not find it surprising of the number of people that are "pro" for google docs. It is very easy to use, it may not have as many functions as Microsoft Office but for quick presentations is very useful. I think that many people like it due to the ease of sharing and publishing documents or presentations. That is a feature that makes collaboration much easier than using Microsoft Office.

Briana A said...

I like google docs better also. I know most people will say that but there are also many negatives to google docs. They didn't have the graphics like regular Microsoft office has. It didn't have everything i need to do the best work I could have done. I also had a lot of problems with formatting with the online version of Google word. I didn't like Zoho Docs at all. It just wasn't as simple as the could have made it so more people would get on board with it!

Jo said...

Overall I prefer google docs, this may be because I learnt to use it first but I feel like google docs gets all I need to get done for me plus a little more. I like editing on it especially when I am working on group projects. The coolest part for me has to be the not having to save your work if you want to show it to other people. All you need is the link and internet access. I believe this application will really be useful later on in my life when I get my real job.

Veronica Azzi said...

Between Google Docs and Zoho Docs I like Google Docs better. Seeing that a lot more people like google docs better didn't suprise me either. But I think that has a lot to do with the fact that most people are more familiar with Google Docs because I have heard that Zoho Docs is a lot better. They seem to be very similar to Microsoft Office however, I am not the most computer literate person but I am guessing that there are some things Microsoft has that Google Docs and Zoho Docs are lacking. The good thing about Google docs is that its easy to share documents , whereas MS office I would have to upload the document on the email or flash drive in order to share it. And I'm guessing that that's another reason why more people lean towards google docs. If I made a mistake on Google Docs I could make changes on it and it would automatically change it everywhere, but with MS office its a little bit harder to make that synchronizing change. That is my favorite part of Google docs.But out of the three Microsoft is still my favorite because I feel like the features on it are a little more developed. But between Zoho and Google docs I would choose google docs too.

Veronica Azzi

Mel said...

I was one of the people who preferred Google Docs over Zoho Docs. At your suggestion I will give Zoho Docs a look and try to use it more often, but as of now I prefer using Google Docs its easy to use and I am extremely familiar with it now, since I have used it a lot for some of my classes this semester. Although, I use Google Docs a lot it still has its flaws, for example, if one copies a word document into Google docs, the format of the words are smaller and they are not well formatted in the page when you print it out. But overall it is convenient for me to use.

aaoday said...

@Google Docs and Office Discussion Summary

I think that most people chose Google Docs over the others because it is familiar and the first they used. I personally chose Zoho Docs over Google Docs for many reasons, but mostly because I found it easier to navigate/use. When comparing the three I realized that I preferred Zoho Docs as a sharing program and Microsoft Office overall, due to the many features and formats. All three programs have their advantages so I believe that ill have to choose which to use depending on the circumstance.