ITServices
Queen's UniversityMicrosoft versus Google
While the Microsoft Office 365 and Google App suites offer comparable feature sets, reliability and security, the implementation of Microsoft Exchange as the on-premise email solution for staff, faculty and graduate students in Spring 2012 tipped the balance here at Queen's. Because of the complementary infrastructure of the two Microsoft offerings, in choosing O365 for students, migrating accounts will be more seamless from Exchange to the cloud (or the reverse) in order to accommodate the changing status of our many stakeholders (e.g. when an undergraduate student becomes a graduate student).
Feature Set Comparison - Office 365 versus Google
Criteria assessed on a scale of 0-5 where 5=Great and 0=Not Available. In some instances there may be third party plugins available to satisfy unsupported functionality identified below.
| Feature set | O365 | Explanation | Source | |
| 5 | 5 | Appear to have near identical feature sets |
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| Calendaring | 3 | 5 | Microsoft better for large institutions. Scheduling, tasks, integration better in Microsoft. | Tech Republic, "Google Apps v. Office 365: Calendar features" |
| Word processing | 3 | 5 | Most users much more familiar with Microsoft office |
Tech Republic, "Google Apps v. Office 365: Comparison chart" |
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Spreadsheets & Breadth of spread sheet functionality |
3 | 5 | Most users much more familiar with Microsoft office Cell selection and formula editor is lacking in Google |
Tech Republic, "Google Apps v. Office 365: Comparison chart"
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| Forms creation |
5 | 0 |
Only third party support available for creating forms for Microsoft 365 (i.e. Google Docs) |
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| Chart creation | 5 | 4 |
Limited options within Excel web app |
Microsoft Introduction to Excel
Google Apps Training Center |
| Compatible with Chrome, Firefox, Safari | 5 | 5 | Both compatible | Office 365 vs. Google Docs Showdown: Feature by Feature |
| Compatible with Internet Explorer | 3 | 5 |
Some features for Google apparently not compatible |
Office 365 vs. Google Docs Showdown: Feature by Feature |
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Word Processing document fidelity between Office and web-based service |
3 | 5 |
Some formatting may change in Google Docs from Word |
Word Web App vs. Google Documents |
| Document collaboration and sharing | 5 | 5 |
Sharepoint in Office 365 |
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| Shared work space capabilities | 5 | 5 |
Only issue with sharing using Google Cloud Connect is being unable to edit .docx file in the browser. |
YouTube: Introducing Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office |
| Blackberry, iPhone, Android compatibility | 5 | 5 |
See source for mobile support summary. Availability of blackberry compatibility was unclear at first, so a question posed and answered on Microsoft forum. See second source |
Google
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| ActiveSync versus Google Sync | 3 | 5 | The Google Tasks system has less features than the Microsoft equivalent. Google Tasks is more of a simple check list. |
Google Support
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| Tasks | 3 | 5 |
The Google Tasks system has less features than the Microsoft equivalent. Google Tasks is more of a simple check list. |
YouTube: Getting Organized with Google Tasks |
| Contacts | 5 | 5 | Comparable |
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| Mobile document editing | 2 | 2 |
Office 365 document editing currently only supported on Windows Phone and Symbian. Editing Google Docs may be possible with Third-party apps. Google Docs system moving to Google Drive, which supports creating new documents on mobile devices, but not editing existing documents in the drive. |
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| User-initiated self-service remote device wipe | 5 | 5 | Available on both |
Google: Remote Wipe a Mobile Device
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| Offline access/editing | 5 | 5 |
Offline editing available with Sharepoint for Office 365, using Google Cloud Connect for Google |
Microsoft
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| Storage size | 5 | 5 | Both are 25Gb |
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| Email attachment size | 5 | 5 |
Both are 25Gb |
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| IMAP email client compatibility | 5 | 5 | Both compatible |
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| Calendar client compatibility | 5 | 5 |
Google Calendar compatible with Outlook and iCal 365 Compatible with Outlook (and iCal) |
About Google Calendar
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| Audio, video and web conferencing | 5 | 5 | Online conferencing with desktop sharing Google Talk/Group video chat in Google + |
Microsoft - Compare Plans
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| Personal website support | 5 | 5 |
Google Sites. Powered by Sharepoint online for Office 365 |
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| Content management | 3 | 5 | Google doesn't have hierarchical folders because they have labels. Which means emails may exist in multiple places accidentally. |
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| Workflow |
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| Text Messaging |
4 | 3 | Google apps have text messaging, 365 allows text messages to be stored as emails in your inbox |
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| Office and PDF document conversion to HTML for browser-based viewing | 4 | 4 |
Google Docs opens PDFs and office documents in browser, with some possible loss of formatting. Office 365 support for PDF seems unreliable, but office compatibility with web apps is good. |
Microsoft - troubleshooting forum
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| Instant messaging and presence integration | 5 | 5 |
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| Ability to view shared calendars | 5 | 5 |
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Microsoft - Managing calendars with Office 365
Google - Share calendars with individuals, groups, and more |
| Support for Mail Tips, conversation threading and ignore button | 3 | 5 |
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Updated September 2012
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Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6 613.533.2000