MS Office 2010 released. Time to upgrade to Google Docs

May 13, 2010

Today, Microsoft officially launched its Office 2010 for companies using the volume-licensing. For other companies and users the office suite will be available in June. The web-based version - Office Web Apps, that is the main new feature in Office 2010 and its main weapon in competition against Google Docs, will appear also in June. Google responded to the release in very original way - they used the fact that the main competitor to Office 2010 is actually not Google Docs, but Office 2007 (or 2003). The point is that why pay several hundred dollars for the new version of Office 2010 (+ Sharepoint 2010), if using Office 2007 in combination with Google Docs, you can get even more features at virtually no cost. Here is the comparison table, that was published in the Google Enterprise blog:

Google Docs + Office 2007/2003
Office 2010

Required user licenses
Google Apps
Office 2010

Sharepoint 2010

Sharepoint & Windows Cals

Cost
$50/user/year
$499 (Office Professional) + Sharepoint 2010 + Windows Cals + server hardware

Server software
-
Windows Server 2008, SQL Server Express, Sharepoint Server

Server hardware
-
server 64bit, 8Gb RAM, 80Гб

Datacenter replication
included
additional software and hardware required

Store and share office documents in the Cloud
yes
Sharepoint 2010 required

Real time collaboration on the web
yes
Excel only

Real time collaboration in desktop applications
soon (MS Office 2007, 2003 required)
Sharepoint 2010 required. manual updates