But critics say that Office has become so bloated over the years that 80 percent of customers use only 20 percent of its features.
“The Burton Group's role as anti-Google Apps proxy was first spotted back in August.”Cowardly enough, Microsoft is attacking Google from proxies (this includes legal assaults, e.g. [1, 2]). The Burton Group's role as anti-Google Apps proxy was first spotted back in August. Then, the press covered what it called anti-Google Apps propaganda (early observations and links here).
Quite a few businesses appear to be using Microsoft Office and Google Apps in tandem, but this might just be a transitory phase. About half a year ago, when a Microsoft executive (or manager) was questioned about the online version of Microsoft Office, his answer was telling. It was a disappointment. Many stories in the press and even analysis in Microsoft Watch concurred. Both adoption levels and technical deficiencies were to blame.
The story had a certain flair. In early March, the chief information officer of the Federal Aviation Administration, David Bowen, was reportedly considering forsaking Microsoft Windows and Office in favor of the Linux operating system and the Web-based Google Apps Premium office suite.
Bowen said he's in talks with the aviation safety agency's main hardware supplier, Dell Computer, to determine if it could deliver Linux-based computers capable of accessing Google Apps through a non-Microsoft browser once the FAA's XP-based computers pass their shelf life.
This move, which puts it in direct competition with software heavyweights like Microsoft, builds on Google's first steps as an enterprise vendor years ago when it launched its first enterprise search product.
Google's newly released online productivity suite Google Apps has already replaced Microsoft Office at more than 100,000 small to medium enterprises and has been deployed at two of the largest companies in the world, according to the search leader's enterprise product boss.
So apparently do some 100,000 small businesses and organizations that use Google's productivity and communications software. Even larger corporations, such as General Electric and Procter & Gamble , are becoming adherents.
Google has a friend in Disney, and that could leave Microsoft screaming like a jilted lover.
Why Google Apps is a Serious Threat to Microsoft Office
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The significant advantage is collaboration. Since I started working on a new project where we all agreed to use Google Docs from the start, I have hardly used MS Office at all - even on other projects.