Microsoft: Office Web Apps is Better Than Google Docs

Posted on March 26th, 2012. Written by Rico.

Of course, Microsoft would say its own online office software offering is superior to Google’s. Yet a head-to-head face-off makes a genuine case for Office Web Apps against Google Docs.

In an email sent to subscribers of its email newsletter last week, Microsoft simply asks readers to “See why Office Web Apps is the better choice for sharing documents”. Links are provided to an Excel Web App doc and a Google Spreadsheet created from the same Excel file upload. The former features graphs, images, and even dropdown lists (allowing viewers to change how the data is presented real-time), a stark contrast from the plainness found on Google.

Microsoft does make a good point: for those who want to share their Microsoft Office documents without affecting the format and layout of their work, Office Web App looks like an appealing alternative to Google Docs.

It should be no surprise however, that Microsoft’s online office software has better support for documents created with the desktop version of Office. They’re developed by the same company after all. The demo is also read-only, an understandable precaution against vandalism, but it also prevents people from seeing how they can edit documents on the Excel Web App.

The comparison highlights how adding an effective online collaboration and cloud component to Office is a key to Microsoft’s future. Strong sales of Office 2010 over the last two years have boosted Microsoft’s bottom line. The company hopes that cloud-based services like Office Web Apps will continue generating interest in its paid office software, as free competitors like Google Docs grow in popularity.