Recently I decided to uninstall Microsoft Office from my computer. I’ve used it for years to create documents I need to create – I’ve written eBooks with it, created newsletters, and spreadsheets to track important information. However recently I discovered that Google’s tools – Google Docs, Sheets, Forms, and Presentations were just as good, if not better. I’ll discuss what I like about Google’s tools in this post.
They’re free – This is probably the number one thing that I like. Microsoft Office is expensive. And the Microsoft Office that installed last year (can’t remember what it was called) was less expensive, but it was a subscription service which I didn’t realize at the time, so last month I got a notice saying it was time to renew it. So I started looking into alternatives for the typing I do – most of it is on Microsoft Office or WordPress, after all. I found that Google Docs was just as good, if not better – it has all the same features that I liked in Microsoft office – I can even add shortcuts like I did in Microsoft Office for the transcription I do. I’m not sure about making newsletters with it yet, but I don’t anticipate having to do that any time soon.
I can use them anywhere – Another big advantage to using Google’s tools rather than using Microsoft Office is I can use them anywhere – on my computer at home, on my husband’s laptop if we’re traveling, even on my phone if I need to. There’s not a Google Docs app for my Kindle, but I can still log into Google’s website on my Kindle and use them that way. The only thing I don’t like about Google Docs is they don’t have an equivalent for One Note, which I used to use a lot to write rough drafts of posts that I write for other websites. However, I’ve started using Evernote for some of the things I used to use OneNote for, and I’ve also started using Ilys more to write my rough drafts, so that helps.
I can type with my voice if I want to – Another feature that Google Docs has that I like is they have voice typing built in. I tried using it, and it works pretty well – much better than Microsoft’s speech recognition in my opinion. While I probably won’t use it often, it does make it easier to type using my voice, because it saves my hands.
That’s what I like about Google’s tools, so far – I’ll be sure to update you all as I find out more about them. If you’ve had any experiences using Google
Docs, Sheets, Forms or Presentations, I’d love to hear them!
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