Google Docs: Will it be the “Office” killer?
In the red corner...
With the above features, Google Docs provides for quick and easy document manipulation, collaborative document creation, and no-frills document sharing. But when it comes to day to day word processing tasks, MS Word has what it takes for superb desktop word processing. Here are what MS Word users would surely miss in Google Docs:
Printing limitations. When it comes to producing hard copies, Google Docs is restricted because printing of web documents is done by the Web browser itself and hence, is beyond the control of the web application. Elements that are by default included in Web browser printing cannot easily be removed (such as the http://… address above the document) , unless the browser can be configured to do so.
Google Docs apparently conceded to Web printing limitations such as the absence of the ability to change margin width, landscape/portrait options, and paper size options. These options, though it won’t manifest visibly via the Web, could ultimately be useful if the document is saved, downloaded, and printed via desktop productivity applications or some other programs such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Spelling and grammar checking features. For the weathered journalist or the poetic lover, the spelling and grammar check features are handy, more so that MS Word offers suggestion when it encounters a spelling or grammatical error. Proofreading becomes easier then. Tragically, Google Docs’ way is do-it-yourself way, identifying the misspelled word with a red underline and that’s it.
Limited graph creation features. No, we are not talking about (heaven forbid) WordArt nor those annoying Cliparts but the creation of basic shapes (rarrows, boxes, circles, oblongs, and what have you), with which you can easily create flowcharts, diagrams, and charts to support a document. What Google Docs allows is insertion of image to the document.
Smart features such as Mail Merge, Format Painter, and Auto Correct. And some other features we used to live with and love--Google Docs unfortunately does not have these.
Target Market
Google Docs, with its pluses and minuses, may appeal to users of small-scale file collaboration and sharing, say professors for lesson and examination dissemination, or students for collaborative report creation, or journalists for easy news writing on site and sharing with their editors.
For large-scale business collaborations, however, Google Docs may be a bit challenged, as they would probably need “high-level database structuring, key reporting features, certain access control privilege settings, or advanced search.” Another thought to ponder upon: large businesses often do not trust external systems for their confidential data, and would prefer their documents hosted in their own servers. Trusting an external system for crucial data is just trusting too much.
Word Processing Champ
Google Docs has its own niche in the word processing arena, in that it uses the Web as its platform. It seems to triumph hands down over MS Word when it comes to collaboration, sharing, and publishing. However, comparing feature to feature, Google Docs is too simplistic an application and constrained to perform complex tasks. Google Docs at this point may not be muscled enough to knock out MS Word, at least in the desktop word processing ring.
Sure, a “webified” and interconnected document application is fun and fine, but the extra power features of MS Word may not merit uninstalling the latter from the hard disk. Not just yet. And what about Google’s spreadsheet and presentation? Watch out for Round 2 and Round 3!
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