Combine Google Apps and Microsoft Office
Instead of choosing one or the other, Office Watch suggests combining Google Apps and Microsoft Office:
Google’s move to an online version of Office continues with the announcement that they have purchased an online presentation system. Later this year Google Docs and Spreadsheets will also include something akin to Microsoft Powerpoint.
In most discussions of Google Apps it’s considered a rival to Microsoft Office, where you have the choice of using either Google’s online offerings or Microsoft Office - not both.
We’d like to suggest a middle ground - you can use Microsoft Office plus Google Docs and Spreadsheets to fill gaps that Office alone can’t do.
This is a powerful combination, especially since Google Docs and Spreadsheets is available for free. The collaboration elements of Google’s system might not be as comprehensive as Microsoft’s alternative - but Microsoft requires a considerable investment in back-office technology (Windows Server, Sharepoint etc).