Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets

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Preston Gralla puts them head-to-head and comes up with some startling (but not unexpected!) results. The write-up is “for business,” but the results
[See the full post at: Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets]

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AlexEiffel

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One thing he didn’t mention: with Google Sheets, you’ll probably have Big Brother Google gathering information from all of your sheets, and then making money off of that information.

Another thing: According to Google’s FAQ: “Unlike traditional desktop applications, there is no software to install.” It’s all in the “cloud”. I wonder what happens if you can’t get connected, or if you are out-and-about and don’t want to connect to someone’s public wifi — can you still work, or are you dead in the water? With Office 365 and other versions of Office, you have a locally-installed copy of the software, so you can work whether you are connected or not.

If you go to Google’s GSuite webpage (https://gsuite.google.com/), you’ll find that under “enterprise”, Google refers to Microsoft Exchange as a “legacy” system, right along with IBM (Lotus) Notes!

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Microfix, wdburt1

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Reading that Google Sheets is stored on their server: That killed it for me.

Office software sellers have been looking for something new to sell for a long time.  The big thing for at least a decade has been collaboration, and in some environments it offers value.  But I wonder what has happened to the relationship between the spreadsheet software and the individual user, who very often must create alone and needs the software to help, not hinder, that quest.  Have the designers, having failed to come up with new ways to enhance solo creativity, bet everything on connectivity and crowd-sourcing?

The discovery of Windows 3.1 and Lotus 1-2-3 in 1992 did more than provide me a tool; it lit up portions of my brain for the first time.  In grade school I had been tested and shown to be highly verbal but without much aptitude for numbers.  Windows and spreadsheets allowed me to test and demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships that previously I could only hint at.  They helped me launch a consulting career in the complex industry that I knew.

What have the designers come up with lately to equal that?

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Elly, Deep Lurker, MrJimPhelps, Pepsiboy, flackcatcher

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wdburt1 wrote:

Reading that Google Sheets is stored on their server: That killed it for me. Office software sellers have been looking for something new to sell for a long time. The big thing for at least a decade has been collaboration, and in some environments it offers value. But I wonder what has happened to the relationship between the spreadsheet software and the individual user, who very often must create alone and needs the software to help, not hinder, that quest. Have the designers, having failed to come up with new ways to enhance solo creativity, bet everything on connectivity and crowd-sourcing? The discovery of Windows 3.1 and Lotus 1-2-3 in 1992 did more than provide me a tool; it lit up portions of my brain for the first time. In grade school I had been tested and shown to be highly verbal but without much aptitude for numbers. Windows and spreadsheets allowed me to test and demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships that previously I could only hint at. They helped me launch a consulting career in the complex industry that I knew. What have the designers come up with lately to equal that?

 

wdburt1,

I’m in that same boat with you. When I FIRST tried MS Works, it WORKED for me perfectly, and has continued to do so ever since. I have tried other versions of Office (Libre Office and Open Office) and don’t like the fact that for ME they seem to be a lot more cumbersome and difficult to use than works. Currently using MS Works 7.0 on my Win7 X64 laptop and desktop computers and have not had ANY trouble creating, adding to, or saving any data in these forms. It is NOT broken, so I have NO REASON to replace it.

Dave

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I’m staying with Microsoft Excel, thank you.

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SueW

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MrJimPhelps wrote:

One thing he didn’t mention: with Google Sheets, you’ll probably have Big Brother Google gathering information from all of your sheets, and then making money off of that information.

Nope. In fact, Google’s privacy policy related to GApps is similar to MS’ for O365.

Second to that, you’re forgetting that MS also collects data from any and every Windows 10 powered computer on the planet, regardless of whether MS account integration is being used.

MrJimPhelps wrote:

I wonder what happens if you can’t get connected, or if you are out-and-about and don’t want to connect to someone’s public wifi — can you still work, or are you dead in the water?

You can use GApps and your documents offline.

One fact that was ignored in this article/”review” completely is cost.

GApps is free.

Quite a bit of our business tracking is done using free GApps. Yes, there are pay versions too, but we don’t use GSuite, we use GApps. Almost every department within our company uses GApps, and the majority of it is in Sheets because of the ability for collaboration and having anyone and everyone update a single Sheet simultaneously.

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MrJimPhelps, Snowflake Theory

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zero2dash wrote:

You can use GApps and your documents offline.

Do you have to be using a Chromebook in order to access GApps offline?

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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No, it looks like you can use any device.

https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2375012?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en

You have to toggle the “Available offline” slider on the ones you want to access, and then (I’m assuming) it saves a local copy to your device that can then be opened while offline.

(I don’t use this functionality myself, but it is nice that the option is there. )

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MrJimPhelps, Snowflake Theory

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http://time.com/4264498/how-to-use-google-drive-offline/

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I may experiment with Apache office suite and see if it fits my bill.

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You’d be much, much better off using the fork LibreOffice because it has a bigger team behind it and is updated a lot more frequently. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibreOffice#ooo-build.2C_Go-oo_and_Oracle

If you’re afraid of using LOO “fresh”, they have a “still” build that is more like an LTS-variety. (I use LOO “fresh” myself, and have no issues.)

Apache Open Office (AOO) is reportedly in danger of being retired. They haven’t updated it in almost a year and it apparently has unpatched security vulnerabilities.

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@BrianL, respectfully, you seem to be moving in a few different directions simultaneously. Because I was working my way up the recent replies list, a short time ago I saw you make reference to giving a go at a Chromebook. Another reasonable option also backed by Woody in the last few months. As an anonymous recommendation from the internet, a Chromebook will best operate with the google design. If a free and open source solution is desired on any other platform, I would second the advice of @zero2dash.

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It sounds like a net wash, they both have strengths and weaknesses but both will get the job done.

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From a Homeuser POV, I’ve found the free WPS Office Suite (previously known as kingsoft Office) to satisfy needs and works flawlessly between Windows and Linux. The compatibility with MS Office Word, Excel and Powerpoint is seamless (for our needs) when transferred to MS Office programs elsewhere.
Firewall rules can be enforced for the usual background reporting/ update services which doesn’t affect functionality at all.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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Elly

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Do you know how it compares to Libre Office in terms of ease of use, lack of bugs, and compatibility with Microsoft Office? Also, is it actively supported like Libre Office is?

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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I have happily used Google Sheets for well over a year now, and I like how it’s 1) Saved to the cloud; 2) Completely free to use; and 3) Straightforward and easy to jump into. The company I work for uses it to send me work schedules, and I like how it’s so easy to just save the Google Sheets file into my GDrive, and how I can view it from my phone, tablet, or laptop. Also, if a change needs to be made to the schedule, there’s no need to resend the file to everyone. The fact that GSheets files don’t take up storage space is icing on the cake. Honestly, unless you need really fancy and advanced stuff, GSheets will suffice.

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