Word Processing Showdown

SkyDrive Vs. Google Drive & Open Office Vs. Libre Office

I had a little trouble getting this week's assignment posted but here it is. Okay, I'm going to be doing some more comparisons of products. They're competitors to the Microsoft Office works. Two I've used for a long time (Google Drive and Open Office) and the others I have just downloaded. So without further ado, I'll start by comparing SkyDrive and the Google Drive.

Like I've said, I've been using Gmail and its accompanying products for about 3 years now, right? My anatomy teacher made getting an account on the server required so we could use the Google Drive. This was an alternative for those who did not have Microsoft.  Below is a picture of an empty drive.

Being that my parents knew little to nothing about computers nor wanted to pay for the package, I needed this alternative. She was like...5 years too late on telling me, but hey, whatever, I was grateful. It is for this reason I discovered the Google Drive and along with the basis that it was free it was also fairly simple to work. Nothing fancy like Microsoft Word, but it got the job done. This is how it looks to work in a document: 

                                  

When I created a SkyDrive account my initial reaction was like....wut? You go from simple plain text that is Google Drive to this..kind of a culture shock. 

Then I started exploring and found you could create documents that open straight to Word, store items from your computer, and all other kinds of stuff that I probably don't even comprehend right.

Like I said, when you go to create a document, it can open straight to Word. The interface of Word compared to Google Docs is more detailed. I require simplicity in my life, so on the basis of document editing (as well as creating presentations) I would choose Google. But if we're talking about drives - I would choose SkyDrive because it allows you to add so much more in an organized fashion: such as pictures in their own little drop box. So SkyDrive for storing items, Google Drive for working on items for me. 

Here's a reference picture, showing side by side comparisons of the two. It shows I chose smart with choosing SkyDrive for storage as you get 7 GB free. Also it shows all the features and compatibility with other products. 

Now on to Open Office and Libre Office...When you open the two programs, the appearance is contrasting enough. Libre is on a grey background while Open is on white. I declared my love for simplicity when comparing the last two products and so far both of these are decently simple. I like them both for this.

Here's a word document in Libre....

Now here's one in Open....

They essentially have the same look...one that Microsoft Word had years ago. The top tool bars are the same. They're plain but altogether helpful. I said I used Open Office...but never this version. I had an older version of the software. This older version did not have this side panel (seen on the right in the Open Office picture). I find it very useless, if anything really annoying. Old version - SO much better for me.  I don't even think Open Office develops updates as quickly as Libre Office, but if it continues updating I feel they will mess it up even more.

Finally, the spreadsheet capabilities on Libre are much better. It has more capabilities than Open does. So, sadly, even though I used to be a loyal Open Office user it is time to move on. 

Categories: google docs, libre office, open office, skydrive