I think it is safe to go out on a limb and say web-based collaboration is gaining momentum and may be here to stay.
Unfortunately, we saw the demise of Google Wave not too long ago (oh, what it could have been). I do not think this was a serious step back by any means.
The major player in web collaboration has been Google. Since they released Google Docs a few years ago, many have felt confident to make the switch from paid for apps to free online apps. Why not? It’s free and you can write documents, make spreadsheets, and share information across any platform. While not a heavy user, I used to access it a lot during school when I wanted to print my homework from an email.
And here’s why I think Google’s momentum might be slowing up…
Google, Grow Up…?
For the large part, I have not seen Google Docs grow or change.
While I praise open source software, and use tons of it, I still find myself chained to Microsoft Office. If you attempt to open a complex spreadsheet in Google Docs, you have seen the face of evil. It could be done, but you often had to spend ten minutes formatting your work. Open complex documents is not the only painful time-suck.
The Google interface can be a bit… how do I say this nicely… ugly?
A Microsoft Salvation?
Quiet down Mac fan-boys, I already know your answer. As one who is platform agnostic, I will say the answer is ‘sort of.’ Microsoft has released a strong competitor for online collaboration. They call it Office Web Apps. The interface alone is an upgrade over Google.
Here is a list of some other pros to using it:
- Documents maintain their original formatting.
- It’s free (see the ‘cons’ list below for details)
- You can use your 25gb Sky Drive account to store and give access to documents.
- More fonts are available.
- Easy deployment tool for organizations.
- Mobile device access (including iOS devices).
- Native Power Point editing.
I will admit, there are some cons to it as well. I am hoping Microsoft can work out the kinks over time. Here are some of the things I stumbled over:
- You must own at least one license of Office per user.
- Tied to Sky Drive online storage.
- No real-time collaboration (yet).
- Dependent on Silverlight for faster speed.
Conclusion
If you and your organization or church are already using MS Office, I think Web Apps can do great things for you.
Since you are already paying the licensing fees for Office, why not take advantage of everything it has to offer? Since your users are already used to Office, there is less of a learning curve for them. Getting all of your users to store their information on Microsoft’s servers (using Sky Drive) can be a huge advantage for any networking department.
This means less server space can be taken up on your end, and your users are backing up automatically. The real con come in for those who are not paying for Office. If you have no plans to drop cash on a Microsoft product, than there is really no reason to worry about Web Apps. You can continue to use Google Docs.
After using it, I have to admit, I love it. I think it has great potential to advance how people work together online. My biggest fear is that Microsoft will pull the rug out from underneath everyone and start charging either for Sky Drive or for this service.
Or, I could see Microsoft cutting off support for older versions of Office with little notice. These reasons will not deter me from advocating for its use. It really looks and feels like a grown up version of Google Docs. My one wish is for real-time collaboration to make its way to Web Apps. Is this a Google Docs killer? Nah, probably not. However, I can see it growing in users rather quickly.
I would encourage you to try it out for yourself. I mean, you can’t beat the price, its free.
BenJPickett says
Correction on the licensing. It doesn’t have to be a full retail license of the Office software, the starter license that comes with most new PCs will work and lately it seems like that has been phased out. Recently I’ve been accessing my files from computers that don’t have a copy of Office installed. The only problem that I’ve noticed with it so far is the speed. It isn’t as fast as Google Docs, especially when working on a 2-3MB Excel spreadsheet. But how many people deal with spreadsheets that size on a regular basis?
The catch with MS offering this for free is they do not have all the features that there desktop counter parts do. Last time I checked Excel doesn’t do pivot charts, although I’ve read somewhere this will change. Power Point will not edit HD video online like it’s desktop counter part. I haven’t noticed any difference in Word, except the ability to install fonts on the desktop.
Real time collaboration is on the way but I can’t remember where I saw that blog post. I’ll check around for it later today and update if I have the chance.
All in all I don’t see any reason why MS would start charging for this service with all the free competition out there (OO.org, Google Docs, Lotus Notes), the only thing that they would accomplish is shooting themselves in the foot.