Several weeks ago, a reader asked me an excellent question, so me, being me, thought I would share it with you today. Now, reader, if you are reading this today, it is not all that you wrote me and I have pulled together other reader questions to make it. Sort of like the Waltons TV show combining a couple of real life Waltons into one person for the show. Google it and see. Now, back to this story.
The question was basically asked as, “I was in the business world, and we used Office as our document handling application.” They say, “I have since left, retired, whatever, and am working at home on my own business.” Then she added, “Should I purchase Microsoft Office, go with Google Docs, or use something else? I have read other options are available online and do not know what to trust.”
Well, look no further, I will totally bedazzle you with my genius and the correct answer…well not really, but read on.
If you left the business world, you would have probably chosen Microsoft Office, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and several others. It is used by offices and companies all over the world and has been for years. However, if you got home and started checking prices, you realized well Microsoft Office is really nice and shiny but wow; it costs money. Now that my old company is not paying for it…do I want to?
You may have bought it, which is not wrong, it is outstanding. You may have dabbled in several other options and looked at Google Docs (my next favorite along with MS Office paid for by the company) which also had Docs, Sheets, and Presentations which are very, very similar to Microsoft Office applications mentioned above. But it is free to a point!
So, which is best? If you are sold on Microsoft Office and are comfortable paying for it, get it. Which for most users, if you like free, you can get everything needed by logging into Office for FREE! Yes, I did say FREE. Just go to Microsoft.com, Office.com or a glut of other URLs and sign up for a free account. You will get an Outlook.com email address, but they are free. Afterward you get a slightly limited version of Word, Excel, etc. Please believe me for most users, that is all you may need. You get storage in MS OneDrive also to keep your files safe in the cloud.
Now, how about Google Docs? Great program and, like I mentioned previously, free. Now Google Docs can be stored in Microsoft format so you can work and collaborate with the rest of the Office world. Go to Google.com or Docs.Google.com and set up an account. I bet you have one already. Per some estimates, there are 1.8 billion Google accounts already setup in 2021. So, you are not alone.
I like both Microsoft.com and Google accounts (accounts.google.com if you do not have one already) . They are both excellent and offer free cloud storage and many, many options.
You just need to try them both and see what makes you happiest. They are both terrific.
If you want to download and install an application similar to Microsoft Office directly on your computer, try Open Office at OpenOffice.org. I do not believe you can go wrong with any of these choices. Try them all and stick with what you like best!
