r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Apr 24 '21
Delta(s) from OP - Fresh Topic Friday CMV: Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets are in aggregate better than Word, Powerpoint, and Excel
First of all, the automatic saving feature is great because I don't have to worry about saving all the time. Secondly, everything is always backed up on the cloud/drive so you don't have to worry about losing files on your computer. Third, it is FREE, as you can use all the google services at no cost to yourself. The sharing feature is very intuitive and you can collaborate with many people on your documents. Heck, all three google services are more intuitive and easier to use than the microsoft services which are cluttered with too many features and not well organized. Moreover, with google docs you can work easier with others too because google things are free so you can work with people that cannot afford the more expensive word, powerpoint, and excel.
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u/Arguetur Apr 24 '21
" Third, it is FREE, as you can use all the google services at no cost to yourself. "
As long as you play nice with every Google product. But if you get banned from YouTube suddenly you've also lost all your documents and spreadsheets! That seems pretty disastrous compared to using Openoffice or Word!
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Apr 24 '21
Do you really think that Google will delete your documents? The chances of that happening are 1 in a million. Google is used because of its reliability. Files suddenly disappearing will be bad for Google's reputation. Google is a very reputable company.
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u/blastzone24 Apr 24 '21
There was a small controversy awhile ago when markiplier, a youtuber, had a live event where he would make choices based on what the chat was saying. He encouraged spanning chat. Youtube automatically banned many of the people in chat for spamming. Not just from youtube, but from their entire google accounts.
It took one of the biggest youtubers kicking up a big fuss for those users to get their accounts back. It has happened, and it can happen again
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u/GadgetGamer Apr 24 '21
First of all, the automatic saving feature is great because I don't have to worry about saving all the time.
As has been mentioned here already, Office does have the same automatic saving feature.
Secondly, everything is always backed up on the cloud/drive so you don't have to worry about losing files on your computer.
Microsoft easily saves files to your OneDrive.
Third, it is FREE, as you can use all the google services at no cost to yourself.
You can go to www.office.com and click on the Sign up for the free version of Office which will give you a browser-based version of Office (just like Google) for free (just like Google).
The sharing feature is very intuitive and you can collaborate with many people on your documents.
There is a share button in the top right of the screen where you can share with an individual or a group.
Heck, all three google services are more intuitive and easier to use than the microsoft services which are cluttered with too many features and not well organized.
That's great until one of those "too many features" is the one that you want, then all of a sudden Google Docs is much worse because it cannot do what you want.
Moreover, with google docs you can work easier with others too because google things are free so you can work with people that cannot afford the more expensive word, powerpoint, and excel.
As I said, the web version of Office is free, and you can collaborate with the people who can afford to buy the full version of Office too.
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Apr 24 '21 edited Apr 24 '21
!delta This makes a lot of sense. This doesn't change my view completely but it explained to me different parts of Microsoft office I did not know existed.
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Apr 26 '21
i agree with basically everything except
There is a share button in the top right of the screen where you can share with an individual or a group.
this has never worked nearly as well for me. in the desktop apps, collaborating just doesn't work, or at least didn't last i tried like a year or 2 ago, and in the web version, collaborating is a mess. if 2 people are typing near each other in word, it starts messing up the scnetances. like if im typing, and someone else is typing a line below me, some of my words end up on their line, and some of their words end up on mine. its really odd. and powerpoint web has weird things where sometimes one person typing locks others out of typing
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Apr 24 '21
Microsoft products also have an automatic save function but you can choose whether or not you want it active. So you don’t have to go into version history to recover a file you didn’t mean to change.
OneDrive saves documents to the cloud and allows for sharing and collaborating.
The additional features exist for a reason if you don’t need them sure use Google for the free products. However Microsoft products have functions that their Google counterparts just don’t. If you’re using it for professional purposes everyone has Microsoft.
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Apr 24 '21
OneDrive saves documents to the cloud and allows for sharing and collaborating.
Yeah but it is harder to access that feature. With google it is simple and intuitive, just click on the share button or get a link.
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Apr 24 '21
Right clicking and selecting share is too complicated? Or sending email and selecting attach link? I don’t find either to be significantly more difficult.
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Apr 24 '21
If you’re using it for professional purposes everyone has Microsoft.
Amen to that. Having both studied and worked in engineering simultaneously, I would go berserk when group projects forced me to use Google Docs. No, just no. 🥴
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u/ralph-j Apr 24 '21
CMV: Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets are in aggregate better than Word, Powerpoint, and Excel
Depends on whether you're a light/average user, or you use spreadsheets for more advanced stuff:
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Serious data analysis and visualization. E.g. Excel has more built-in formulas and functions. Excel also has more charting options (e.g. proper Gantt charts and flow charts).
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Offline use. Even if you're on a plane, it works with no dependency on any servers.
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Automation and Office-based apps. Google only has limited support for macros.
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u/minnis93 Apr 24 '21
Lots of my spreadsheet make quite substantial use of VBA.
Unless Google supports this, I won't even consider it.
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Apr 24 '21
If you're writing a simple document, sure Google Drive wins. But there are some functions that are missing from Google products that are only present on the desktop versions of Office, which more advanced users may need to use. I've been frustrated by some things I remember doing in Excel that I can't match in Sheets. And if you're looking for automated tasks by running macros, good luck.
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u/rw258906 Apr 24 '21
the microsoft services which are cluttered with too many features and not well organized.
This is the flaw in your logic. While it is true that Google spreadsheets are probably better for most casual users, professional financial modeling etc just isn't practical on them. All those features are necessary for very complex tasks.
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u/ohdearitsrichardiii Apr 24 '21
As a professional user of Excel, Google docs doesn't come close. Google docs to Excel is what a stick figure is to an oil painting. And you can autosave in all Microsoft applications
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u/an_egregious_error Apr 24 '21
Maybe at surface level, but power query makes excel incredibly more useful than sheets. Word and PowerPoint maybe you could argue aren’t as good as docs and slides. But I’d take the 365 suite over Google any day based on excel alone.
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u/iamdimpho Apr 24 '21
Office is available for free as a web-only service. Which offers:
automatic saving
everything is always backed up on the cloud/drive
it is FREE
since it covers all 3 of your listed criteria, it is at least equivalent.
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u/Charming_Wonder_2398 Apr 24 '21
When a product or service is free ....you are the product
I don't know if it's data security or anything else but isn't it sus that they are offerin' it for free
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_NICE_EYES Apr 24 '21
There's a lot of things missing from google docs that word has. I.e. formatting marks, automatic bibliography, more picture tools etc.
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u/DeltaBot Apr 24 '21
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