Sunday 7 August 2011

Difference between Microsoft Word, OpenOffice Writer and Google Doc

Today, I would be posting on the three Word Processing programmes, namely: Microsoft Word, OpenOffice Writer and Google Doc. Despite all having similar functions, there are distinct differences in each of the programme. But really, it is up to your need in making choices between these three.

Google Docs 
Google Docs applications are web-based word processor. Rather than residing on hard drive, Google Docs requires Internet connection to access your documents. They don’t use up valuable hard drive space and should you need the files you created online, it can be copied to your PC anytime. The key advantage of using Google Docs is that it can be easily accessed by multiple users. It promotes collaboration among colleagues with just the “Share” button. There is no longer a need to send multiple copies of documents around to various people. The interesting feature that Google Docs has that no other word processors possess is real-time collaboration. Users are able to chat as they work on a document. When other people are working on the same document on them, they will be shown a list of names on the upper right portion of the screen. They can see the changes that people make in real as they type. Each person gets his own colour so the coloured cursor (according to the person’s colour) moves and makes changes. Basically, Google Docs provide easy publishing, communication and collaboration.

OpenOffice Writer 
OpenOffice provides a free alternative to Microsoft Office suites that can burn a hole in your pocket. This software is an example of open-source applications which means it cost nothing. The updates to open-source applications are also free. In generally, both Office 2010 and OpenOffice can create files that can be read by others. For Office 2010, Microsoft has established file standards such as .doc (and .docx) for Word documents and .xls (and .xlsx) for Excel. Those who are running Office 2003 or older versions may need to convert the files Office 2010 creates from the new file formats (.docx) to the older ones (.doc) to be able to open them. On the contrary, OpenOffice uses open standards for its native files, but can both read and write files in Microsoft’s format. The users can opt to change the default setting to save out files in Microsoft 2003 formats. However, if the Word documents contains extensive columns, header formats and embedded images, the file is likely to show up in Writer with minor formatting issues. It can be time consuming for users. For now, it does not have complete support for the new file formats created by Office 2007 and 2010. Formatting issues are likely to happen since these file formats are still new in the market.

Microsoft Word 
Microsoft Word possesses advanced features than OpenOffice Writer is lacking. First is grammar checking. Microsoft Word has a built-in grammar-checking tool. The Open Office community has provided a few add-ons that you could install to provide grammar checking, but they’re generally considered to be less robust than Word’s default options. Second are document-viewing options. The options to view documents are not as powerful in Open Office’s Writer as they are in Word. You can only choose to see a “Web View,” which doesn’t show all the formatting that you’ve included for a printed document, or a full-page layout that shows the entirety of the page including headers, footers, and margins. Word gives you several more choices, including a nice view that preserves the page layout without showing margins or headers. Third, conditional formatting. Both spreadsheet packages offer conditional formatting (the ability to automatically format cells based on the properties of the data within them), but Microsoft offers a lot more flexibility and control in this realm. Lastly, Microsoft Office’s “Smart Art” diagrams. Word, PowerPoint, and Excel all introduced a new feature in the 2007 version: Smart Art, a useful feature that allows you to easily create diagrams in a many common formats (like pyramids, cyclical diagrams, org charts, and more). OpenOffice doesn’t offer anything that comes close to the diagramming power. So if you prefer a collaboration-themed word processor, you can always opt for Google Docs. If you prefer simpler interface and can output to different file formats, OpenOffice Writer is the best for you. For the best feature set, Microsoft Word has its offer for you.

Sources:
  • http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9175921/Google_Docs_gets_better_but_is_it_ready_to_take_on_Office_?taxonomyId=18&pageNumber=1 
  • http://knol.google.com/k/microsoft-word-vs-google-docs#_Toc213646571
There are numerous articles online that provide reviews on these three word processors Do check them out here: http://www.taming-openoffice-org.com/newsite/?page_id=23

Happy Trying!


B. Ed TESL IPGKS-UKM
IPG Kampus Sarawak
Jalan Bakam 98009
Miri

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