Google Apps vs. Microsoft Office Online

In this post we both looked at Google Apps as well as Microsoft Office Online and compared the merits of both of these programs.  Below we have provided a chart that outlines both the unique and shared features of each of these cloud based applications.  While some of the information below are our own observations we also included information from TechRepublic US and Infoworld.  For a more in depth review of the applications we encourage readers to check out the links above.  

Google Apps	Both	Microsoft Office Online
Collaboration with others is appealing through Google docs. As multiple people are able to work on the same document at once. 15GB of Free Storage Most people will have to experiment with the program as it will be a bit different to other computer office tools that they typically use. Social Networking on Google apps is called Google+. This program has similarities to Facebook. Google hangouts is useful because you are able to instant message and video chat with a group of people all at once.	Word Processing -Google (docs) and Microsoft Office Online (Word) Spreadsheets- Google (sheets) and Microsoft Office Online (Excel) Presentations- Google (Slides) and Microsoft Office Online (PowerPoint) Email- Google (Gmail) and Microsoft Office Online (Outlook) Web Pages- Google (Sites) and Microsoft Office Online (SharePoint) Storage: Google (Drive) and Microsoft Office Online (Skydrive) Instant Messaging- Google (Talk) and Microsoft Office Online (Lync) Video Conferencing- Google (Hangouts) and Microsoft Office Online (Lync) Social Networks- Google (Google+) and Microsoft Office Online (So.cl) Note Taking:Google (keep) and Microsoft Office Online (OneNote)	Will be familiar to most users as Microsoft software is frequently used on computers. Individuals will be able to adapt easily however not all the same features are on the online version. 7GB of Free storage Microsoft is easier to use on mobile devices. Social networking on Microsoft office is called So.cl. This program is fairly unknown.

There are obviously various pros and cons to each application and we feel that there was no clear cut winner for someone looking to use these applications at a basic level.  In the end it would come down to a preference for operating systems that we think would make the biggest difference when choosing which application to use.  

Authored by: Emily and Jon