Top 10 Reasons to Switch from Microsoft Office to Google Apps

Author Nancy Conner offers 10 reasons why you should consider making the leap from Microsoft Office to Google Apps.

1. The vast majority of Google's services are free, as in totally, completely, won't-cost-you-a-dime free.

2. With a Google Account, you get a lot of the same basic features as Office--like word-processing, spreadsheet, presentation, email, and calendar programs--as well as a few Office doesn't have, like a way to chat with your friends online (Google Talk) and create your own customized home page on the Web (iGoogle).

3. Unlike Office, Google's programs live on the Web, not on a specific computer. That means you can access your documents, spreadsheets, calendar and so on from any computer that's connected to the Internet. And with the help of Google Gears, you can work on your word processing documents even when you're offline.

4. It's super easy to collaborate on Google Docs documents. You and a group of friends or coworkers can work on the same word-processing document or spreadsheet simultaneously, and Google will keep track of all your edits. No more emailing spreadsheets around and getting confused about which version is most current, or waiting for somebody to check a report back into SharePoint so you can have your turn with it.

5. When you and others are working on a document at the same time, you can chat about it online, so questions can get resolved right away. Chat is built right in to Gmail and Google Docs.

6. All your data gets stored on Google's computers, not yours. So if your hard drive crashes, you don't lose all that precious information.

7. Google takes data security very seriously. Google operates a grid of servers in several locations around the world. So instead of storing your Google Apps data in one place, it distributes your information across this grid, making it harder for hackers and other nasty types to get their mitts on your info.

8. If you switch from Office to Google Apps, you can still access your Office files: It's easy to import Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files into Google Docs.

9. Not surprisingly, Google's Web-based services have some of the same searching power as its famous find-anything-on-the-Web search engine. That makes it easy for you to search your documents, email, and more. For example, a Gmail search makes it a snap to find any email in that haystack of messages.

10. The Google applications play well together. So, for example, if someone sends info about an upcoming event to your Gmail account, it's a snap to add that event to your Google Calendar without ever leaving Gmail.