Today I would like to bring a couple programs to light in reference to free Office Software. The two programs I will be discussing are OpenOffice and most notably, Google Docs.
As the title of this article emplies, I will be spending the majority of my time reviewing Google Docs rather than OpenOffice. Gooogle Docs and OpenOffice are both free alternatives to pricy suites like MS Office. There are two models these days when it comes to developing buisiness software; the two current development models are “Cloud” software and local software. Software that is said to be in the “cloud” simply means it runs completely online. This typ eof software requires no installating and requires no local disc space to save files. This is the development model that Google has taken with the development of Google Docs.
The other model (as mentioned above) is a local model. This type of model mirrors Microsoft Office software as a locally installed client. This software model has its advantages and its disadvantages.
“Cloud” software advantages:
-> No need to worry about files being compatable with different versions of the program on different machines.
-> No need to worry about losing a file.
-> Ground breaking collaborative oppertunities.
-> Change History
-> Complete User Access Control
Local software advantages:
-> Not affected by any server downtimes.
->No internet connection required.
-> Typically more full featured.
Even if your not collaberating on a project, Google Docs is a great FREE suite to use because of its accesability. I, as a college student, use Google Docs whenever possible as it allows me to make last minute changes to an assignment on campus before class and be able to access that file from anywhere with an internet connection. Having all of my work online and available from anywhere is a big deal and it has saved me more than once. One final point that I would like to point out is that with Google Docs, you will always be working with ONE version of a file or project. With MS Office, you could have 6 different copies of a project all saved in different locations (flash drive, hard drive, online storage, cd, etc) and this can cause alot of confusion with make changes and submiting the correct file. For a better idea of this concept, please view this video:
The last point I would like to make is that (although I focused on Google Docs and its platform) OpenOffice is still a great solution to office software. OpenOffice and Google Docs compete on different platforms, which allows both to coexist succesfully. I strongly endorse both pieces of software and hope you enjoy saving all the money on the MS suite!
