Versatility and File support
If all you need is a quick and dirty way to read and
edit text documents and spreadsheets, Google
Docs can do the job without taking up any of your
hard drive space. It reads and writes .doc, .rtf, .xls,
and other formats, but if you want to create presen-
tations or access database files, forget it. For those
things, you need OpenOffice.org, which includes
a PowerPoint-compatible presentation app and a
robust database program that supports Access and
MySQL, as well as other types of databases.
Winner: openoFFice.orgAnd the Winner Is...
editing Features
We’re simple folk here at Maximum PC, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like
a little fancy formatting to spruce up our documents. Google Docs’s simple interface makes
basic tasks easy, but it left us wanting more. With only a handful of fonts to choose from and
just the most basic tasks available from the toolbar, Google’s app is easily trounced by the
option-packed menus of OpenOffice. While OpenOffice goes well beyond basic text format-
ting to let you draw, perform calculations in a text doc, and integrate multimedia, Google
Docs poops out at basic revision tracking, word counts, and simple tables. Google Docs
does, however, offer unique file-sharing options that let you collaborate with colleagues who
also use the app. Winner: openoFFice.orgFinished product
For most of us, the whole point of having an office
suite is to share our work with others. Whether you’re
making a presentation to the board of directors, filing
a software review to your editor at Maximum PC, or
turning in a report to your biology professor, the fin-
ished product has to look good. OpenOffice gives you
minute control over page layout and offers a variety
of wizards to help you generate sweet-looking let-
ters, agendas, faxes, presentations, and charts. What
comes out of the printer with OpenOffice consistently
looks like what you see on the screen, in the age-old
WYSIWYG tradition. Google Docs & Spreadsheets
does let you create basic charts in spreadsheets,
but it tends to fall apart when it comes time to print.
Because the app depends on your browser’s print
options, you have little control over things like mar-
gins and other page dimensions, unless you want to
change them browser-wide.
Winner: openoFFice.orghead 2 headTwo Technologies enTer, one Technology leaves
I
f you just need quick access to a word processor or spreadsheet
editor once in a while, Google Docs can do the job. But for always-
there accessibility, support for a broad spectrum of documents types,
a rich interface, and highly polished results, OpenOffice.org doesn’t
just beat the pants off Google Docs & Spreadsheets—it also gives
Microsoft Office a run for its money.round^3 round^4
round^5
september 2007 MAXIMUMPC 15
OpenOffice.ORG
Free, http://www.openoffice.orgFeatures
GooGle Docs &
spreaDsheets openoffice.orG
OnlIne Access WIthOut InstAll AtIO n Yes No
OfflIne Access No Yes
WOrd prOcessOr Yes Yes
spreAdsheets Yes Yes
presentAtIO ns No Yes
dAtAbAse No Yes
bAsIc text edItIng Yes Yes
AdvAnced multImedIA f OrmAtt Ing No Yes
rIch edItIng InterfAce No Yes