Finally we are comparing three big giants of office processing- MS office, Open Office and Google Docs for their ability to deal with blogging and ebook writing. I know that all three players are sophisticated in their own methods and cant be knocked down as such. However, for ease of comparison, I am taking into consideration, a few aspects.
- Simplicity
- Cost
- Versatility
Here is a little comparison chart for easy understanding.
| Microsoft Office | Open Office (Apache project) | Google Docs |
|---|---|---|
|
History of tradition |
Small installation file size |
No installation |
|
Cloud based storage added in recent versions |
Almost all options replacing MS office |
Direct synchonisation |
|
One of the best Office software packs around |
A lot of free templates and addons available |
Easy to share among groups |
|
Huge size of installation file (2.5+ Gb) |
Can export file to a lot of formats (ideal for ebook writing) |
Reliable storage space for files |
|
Hefty price |
Free |
Free |
|
Cant save to any format |
Saving to cloud/ synchronizing difficult |
Internet connectivity can be an issue at times |
|
-- |
-- |
Performance and speed issues with browser or system itself |
Simplicity
MS Office, particularly MS Word marked the beginning of desk top publishing, back in second half of 1990’s. They held their monopoly with their 3 main software MS Word, MS Excel and MS Powerpoint. However, now many software are available including Open office and Google Docs, offering more or less similar functionality.
Open office with all necessary features for a blogger or ebook writer, is a cleverly built alternative to MS Office. The best part is that it is free. It comes in a small installation package of 300 MB size. Getting used with Openoffice is simple and a regular MS Office user can see the similarities between both.
Google docs doesnt need an installation and is simplest in that sense. It can be operated from the browser itself and can handle many of the famous office formats.
Cost of program
This is where MS Office fails. It is the only program that comes with a price tag. For our scenario, we are considering bloggers and ebook writers only as customers. So here, advanced functions are extravaganza and we dont need them much. Even the features of Google Docs and Open office are not harnessed well.
Google Docs is also free, but comes at the cost of internet connectivity. In some parts of the world where internet is still a costly affair, it is better to consider Apache Open office, which works offline completely.
Open office is among the best being absolutely free. The good part doesnt end there. There are a lot of freebie addons and templates available for Open office to extend its functionality further, making it the best choice among the three, for our specific purpose.\
Versatility and stability
Google Docs score here with its versatility to use anywhere with an internet connection and a browser. However, stability depends upon the factors like internet connectivity and browser performance.
MS Office also have started cloud based storage options clubbed with Microsoft Skydrive offering similar features as Google Docs in saving and sharing the document, with an added benefit of offline installation offering a more stable work environment.
Open Office is still far away from versatile management with cloud storage. However, you can use your Dropbox account or Gdrive to share your documents online or save them for further use. Changes will be updated to the file whenever you save the file. So here also, Open Office holds its prominence. You can use Open Office from your USB pendrive too, as a portable application to work with your files in another computers. It also ads to the convenience factor of Open Office.
Conclusion
So, which one is the best to hold the winner title? I would say it is the Open Office. Using it with a cloud storage service like Box, Dropbox etc. ensures that your documents are all ready on the go.