However, we’ve been using Google suite apps almost since they were first released and the offering has grown by leaps and bounds. These are very lightweight pieces of software. Google’s apps are, compared to Office, incredibly limited. There are also proper mobile apps for both Android and iOS and an offline mode for desktop users. The beauty of the Google suite is that it will work on any browser that supports modern web standards. Google Docs is the word processor, Sheets provides spreadsheets and Slides is of course the presentation app. 15GB of storage is included for free as well. Every person who has a Gmail account automatically gets access to Docs, Sheets and Slides along with a number of other neat applications.ĭocuments themselves are stored in your Google Drive. The Google Suite is a free suite of cloud-based productivity apps from, well, Google. There’s a reason Apple’s software has been popular among creatives in the publishing industry for decades. It’s also a great suite for those who value refined user interfaces and beautiful design. So if it covers all your needs, why spend anything?

After all, it’s already available on your hardware for free. Obviously, since this is only available to Apple users, it makes sense to give iWork a fair shake before ponying up any cash for Office. If you want to, for example, create a professional-looking word processor document, iWork makes it a breeze. IWork, on the other hand, is beautiful to a fault and easy to use.

However, the user experience is still pretty rough after all these years and there’s a steep learning curve if you really want to get at the good stuff. Microsoft offers a powerful, feature-rich solution, it’s true. Apple and Microsoft have two very different approaches to creating their productivity software.

Microsoft to do alternatives