Google keeps up the pace. If you compare apples to apples, then the Google Docs word processor in has quite a few features that put it head and shoulders above ’s online version of Word, officially called. Google Docs comes off much worse in a comparison if you include the combined might of Microsoft Office 365 with the desktop suite (or 2011 for Mac), which are tightly integrated with each other. But adding the cost of the Microsoft desktop suite (retail price from US$280 to US$500 per user for the disk-less business versions) pushes the Microsoft approach much higher than the US$5 per user per month charged for both Google Apps and Office 365.
So, counting down, here are the top 10 features that the current version of Microsoft Word Web App lacks. Better layout tools. Google Docs can insert page breaks, headers, footers, bookmarks and table of contents. Document layout. Google Docs has a ruler and can define margins and orientation (portrait or landscape). Insert drawings. Google Apps includes Google Drawing, which Google Docs users can use to create their own drawing and insert it in a document.
Useful for quick sketches. No drawing tool is included in Microsoft Office 365. Comments and footnotes. For basic annotation of a document.
A big one for students. This is a big plus for students, journalists and others who make a living from writing.
Create, edit and collaborate with others on documents from your Android phone or tablet with the Google Docs app. With Docs you can: - Create new documents or edit existing files - Share documents and collaborate in the same document at the same time. - Work anywhere, anytime - even offline - Add and respond to comments. Google docs is alright but take a look at www.dropbox.com - it allows you to sync complete folders. There is a Google app for the iPhone but I can't think of anything that lets you edit docs without being on Google.
Revision history. This is viewable within the document itself by time and date with changes made at each point highlighted. Word Web App does have revision history but it can only be accessed when the document is closed. File formats. Google Docs can be saved and download in ODT, PDF, RTF, Text, Word and HTML formats. Microsoft Word Web App automatically selects.docx for new documents, with no alternatives. It can open an existing document saved in any Word format, however.
Online collaboration. It is much easier for multiple users to work on the same spreadsheet, document or presentation. Online collaboration is not even possible for Microsoft Word Web App. Find and replace. A major omission for Microsoft not just in Word Web App but also the Excel and PowerPoint Web Apps too.
A critical issue. Google saves documents every couple of seconds without you thinking about it. Microsoft Word still relies on autorecovery which swings into action if your browser crashes and gives you a roughly 30-minute window to restore your changes or lose them. Keep pressing that Save button.
Read on for compared to the joint might of Microsoft Office 365 plus Microsoft Office 2010. Filed Under: Tagged With:, About Sholto Macpherson. Microsoft Word can insert headers and footers, just like Google Docs.You can also make a Comment in Microsoft word and there is a word count on the bottom left.
Microsoft Word also can insert a table of contents and, I’m pretty sure, can do a “Find-and-replace” type thing. So in other words, this post is highly inaccurate. I agree, Google Docs is better and more modern, but Microsoft Word is not as bad as you state it to be in this.
So please, before you make a post on something, do your research. Because this is incorrect. Hi Carrigan – the comparison was with the online version of Microsoft Word, not the desktop software which is of course much more powerful than Google Apps. Since I wrote that comparison Microsoft has improved the quality of its online Word web app so some points may no longer be accurate. As far as I know it was accurate at time of writing.
The point of the article remains the same. Don’t expect the online version of Microsoft Word to be the same as the fully featured desktop version. If you’re going to be using Word web app a lot then it’s worth checking out Google Docs as a point of comparison.
![App App](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125445159/369895240.png)
Thanks for the comment, Sholto.