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Yes. Microsoft Office is dramatically better than Google Docs in terms of privacy. I hate using Office 365 with a passion. The usability is horrible. Google Do

Yes. Microsoft Office is dramatically better than Google Docs in terms of privacy. I hate using Office 365 with a passion. The usability is horrible. Google Docs is much more pleasant. But in any environment where privacy or security matters, I'd pick it over Google Docs in a heartbeat. In my day job, I work with data with compliance issues. We use Microsoft technologies and zero Google. As obnoxious as Office 365 is, that's the right choice.

LegitShady 6y ago
What's so usable about Google docs? I mainly use Excel and the Google docs version is unbearable in terms of ui speed and more limited in functions.
- woofie11 6y ago
  Office has more functionality, without a doubt. File compatibility, privacy/compliance/security, and functionality are key reasons to use it. Google Docs, on the other hand, the things it does, it does well: 1) Works reliably and without bugs. Last Word document I worked with began crashing Word at some point. 2) Works collaboratively. Google Docs keeps docs in sync in realtime. Office 365 has enough lag to suck at collaboration. 3) Keeps better versioning and version history. Word has a half-dozen different ways to do this, none of which are as good. Again, this is important for collaboration 4) Works better with people outside your organization. The things it doesn't do, well.... it doesn't. I've never had issue with Google Docs around UI speed. I have with Word. I think part of the reason is the simpler document structure and format. In addition, Google Docs has working search tools (so you can find documents), albeit not great organization tools. For most of my work, I'm not doing fancy formatting or other crap. I'm writing plain text, often on a team. For that, Google Docs would kick Microsoft's butt, if I trusted Google to allow me to comply with legal requirements (Google makes clear I shouldn't), and if I trusted Google not to disconnect my account tomorrow, based on some ML algorithm which decides I look like a scammer, or randomly discontinue something I'm using mid-document.
  - LegitShady 6y ago
    Excel is not word, but ok. If you need to edit plain text, sure. That's not a particularly interesting use case. I don't collaboratively edit documents with people - I'd rather send them a version, take comments/revision, go through the comments and decide, instead of having them change the document text without my knowledge. As for my use case I use spreadsheets. I make spreadsheets that query databases and perform analyses and then spit out reports. Anyone with excel, db permissions, and the right db connector can use them. Google's version doesn't even have half the features I'd need to get it to work when I checked a little earlier this year. The UI on google sheets is brutally slow and painful to use compared to something running not in the browser. Maybe I'm an odd case because most of my files have tens or hundreds of thousands of rows. also, on point 4, I think this is some kind of computer tech bubble. once you go away from computer tech, google sheets is not great with people outside my organization because they're all expecting excel.
    - woofie11 6y ago
      I would argue collaboratively editing documents is by far the most common and interesting use case, followed by presentations. You seem to have an odd, complex workflow which is representative of 0.001% of the population. I'm glad Excel works for you. Microsoft does well with a number of complex oddball legacy workflows, full of VBA macros and what-not. Your style of working collaboratively isn't very collaborative. Google Docs does allow that (you can share with suggesting changes), but for the most part, there's a gap between getting feedback on a document, and working together on one. I find version control to be super-helpful too; it's not like I don't see the changes after someone makes them.

LegitShady 6y ago

What's so usable about Google docs? I mainly use Excel and the Google docs version is unbearable in terms of ui speed and more limited in functions.

woofie11 6y ago
Office has more functionality, without a doubt. File compatibility, privacy/compliance/security, and functionality are key reasons to use it. Google Docs, on the other hand, the things it does, it does well: 1) Works reliably and without bugs. Last Word document I worked with began crashing Word at some point. 2) Works collaboratively. Google Docs keeps docs in sync in realtime. Office 365 has enough lag to suck at collaboration. 3) Keeps better versioning and version history. Word has a half-dozen different ways to do this, none of which are as good. Again, this is important for collaboration 4) Works better with people outside your organization. The things it doesn't do, well.... it doesn't. I've never had issue with Google Docs around UI speed. I have with Word. I think part of the reason is the simpler document structure and format. In addition, Google Docs has working search tools (so you can find documents), albeit not great organization tools. For most of my work, I'm not doing fancy formatting or other crap. I'm writing plain text, often on a team. For that, Google Docs would kick Microsoft's butt, if I trusted Google to allow me to comply with legal requirements (Google makes clear I shouldn't), and if I trusted Google not to disconnect my account tomorrow, based on some ML algorithm which decides I look like a scammer, or randomly discontinue something I'm using mid-document.
- LegitShady 6y ago
  Excel is not word, but ok. If you need to edit plain text, sure. That's not a particularly interesting use case. I don't collaboratively edit documents with people - I'd rather send them a version, take comments/revision, go through the comments and decide, instead of having them change the document text without my knowledge. As for my use case I use spreadsheets. I make spreadsheets that query databases and perform analyses and then spit out reports. Anyone with excel, db permissions, and the right db connector can use them. Google's version doesn't even have half the features I'd need to get it to work when I checked a little earlier this year. The UI on google sheets is brutally slow and painful to use compared to something running not in the browser. Maybe I'm an odd case because most of my files have tens or hundreds of thousands of rows. also, on point 4, I think this is some kind of computer tech bubble. once you go away from computer tech, google sheets is not great with people outside my organization because they're all expecting excel.
  - woofie11 6y ago
    I would argue collaboratively editing documents is by far the most common and interesting use case, followed by presentations. You seem to have an odd, complex workflow which is representative of 0.001% of the population. I'm glad Excel works for you. Microsoft does well with a number of complex oddball legacy workflows, full of VBA macros and what-not. Your style of working collaboratively isn't very collaborative. Google Docs does allow that (you can share with suggesting changes), but for the most part, there's a gap between getting feedback on a document, and working together on one. I find version control to be super-helpful too; it's not like I don't see the changes after someone makes them.