Learning Unit 8
Group # 1
Comparison of MS Word 2003/2007, Google Docs, Zoho Writer, & Wiki Program


(a)Availability of the formatting choices within these programs

MS Word is a program widely used by users around the globe. It has various formatting choices that user can select in order to achieve wanted document design. MS Word 2003/2007 had the biggest variaty of options to format, edit and insert different applications. In other words, MS office in general is still a more complete program. The only disadvantage of MS Word would be the amount of work and time a group has to put in to save documents then e-mail them to all other group members. However, once you purchase the MS Office program, it is available on a laptop or computer even if there is no wireless connection or if the internet gets disconnected. As of now, MS Word remains the most widely used program opposed to the online programs because it is cheaper and almost available at all times. Some of MS Word formating commands were choosing font, font style, size and color, as well as bullets and numbering, borders and shading, document themes, formatting of selected text are some of the choices offered by Word.

Zoho writer formatting palette offers a decent array of choices. It has more than 15 font selections in addition to icons for special characters and emotions. Basically, offered selections are very similar to those in Word, and it is easy to find them. However, there is a difference between Zoho and Word. Regardless of the license cost, Word is still used widely. That is because Word does not require internet connection, which is not situation with the Zoho. However, if one wants to use Zoho, he/she will need decent internet connection. On the other hand, Zoho frequently offers updates, and one of the recent offerings was offline editing capabilities. That means that users are able to view and edit documents offline, but they need to have Google Gears plug-in installed on their browser. So, one may choose to install plug-in and use Zoho, or to stick to Word.

As a free program, Google Docs could be considered as a good substitute for MS Word. Basically, Google Docs is an elementary word processor, which includes font control, seven text sizes, highlighting, lists (using numbers or one of three bullet styles), indents and outdents, and alignment (left, center, right). One can choose from among three heading styles; single, 1.5, double, and triple line spacing; and superscript, subscript, and strikeout properties. In comparison with Word, Google Docs is an online program, which requires a good internet connection.

Wiki program has only several formatting features that other programs have, such as font style, orientation, bullets and numbering and they are limited (such as number of different fonts, colors, etc.) in comparison to other programs. It also requires decent internet connection.


(b)Grammar, spell checking and word count options

MS Word has very good grammar and spell checking and they work simultaneously. When the dictionary recognizes a word as misspelled, the word is underlined with a wavy red line. One can correct misspelled text through the Quick menu or through a dialog box. We can also turn this feature off, and Spell Check will not run as we work on our document. The feature can be easily activated. The situation is the same with Grammar checking. Word counting can be easily found under the Tools option.

Zoho writer offers spell checking option where questionable words are highlighted. By clicking the flagged word, we can choose suggested alternate spellings. Unfortunately, there is no grammar checking. Whenever we save a document, the word count is shown at the bottom right corner. It shows number of words and characters. 

Google Docs spell checker highlights errors in yellow; right-click can be used for previewing the suggested spellings. There is also no grammar checking. Word count option is located in the File drop-down menu. It counts words, characters (no spaces), characters (with spaces), paragraphs, sentences and pages.

Wiki program also has a spell checking option. Spelling errors are highlighted and by clicking on the suggested word, one can easily change it. There is no grammar checking option. Classic word counter is also missing, but there is a “change tracking” option, which means that program tracks the count of the added and deleted words.


(c)Importing & Exporting

MS Word was more practical, due to our familiarity and experience with the program, to import/export HTML type files pictures and excel spreadsheets, compared to the other three sites which were online documents.

Zoho: the easiest of all four to import URL format by clicking on "import" then you can import a document or a URL in different file types such as html, doc, sxw (open office), odt, rtf, jpg, gif, png and text files. Also you can send Word / HTML document to your account by emailing them as an attachment to :
e6gA3Agr862WJ9A@docs.zohowriter.com

Wiki (wetpaint) offered the option of bookmarking the document created on Del.icio.us    and StumbleUpon using a fast and pratical way to export documents to be shared.

Google docs is somewhat easy to work with as well using the "share" and "publish" buttons to export HTML documents and share them with other group members. As for importing, numerous options are available through the insert tab in the toolbar menu.


(d)Sharing and collaboration of documents within a small group   

MS Word 2003/2007: If more than two people are working on a particular document, using MS Word would not prove beneficial to the group. Since only one person can make corrections at any given time with MS Word, the program lends itself to human errors when multiple people need to edit and re-save at the next revision so everyone in the group can know if they are working on the latest version of the document. When it comes to sharing and collaboration then Ms Word2003/2007 is definitely not the best option. It has a drawback of not having a real time editing so people can not see/edit the shared document in real time.

Google Docs: Google Docs is a better tool compared to MS Word as far as sharing and collaboration is concerned. You can share the document and can give the permission to edit the shared document and also you can limit the sharing by restricting it to “share as viewer” in which the viewer can not edit the shared document.

Zoho writer: Zoho writer is a better tool than MS Word and Google Docs. It has got real time editing and has the option of limiting the access of the shared document to certain people. One can see who all is editing the document and who is viewing the shared document. On top of this Zoho writer extends mobile support, adds offline capability for windows mobile using Google gears.

Wiki program: It is good for sharing and collaboration. Its easy to edit the shared document. It has got real time editing. One can control the sharing and collaborationby limiting the sharing rights.


(e)Cost of using these programs
    (Assuming computers and internet service are already paid for)

    With MS Word, an initial capital investment would be needed to purchase the software and associated licensing fees (if applicable).  Besides this, one could also argue some intangible costs such as: the wasted e-mail space taken up by dozens of document iterations, lost productivity when modifying or using the wrong revision of document, and business repercussions when the wrong or incorrect revision of document is sent out and made public.

    Choosing Google Docs, Zoho Writer, or Wiki for collaboration purposes requires no initial capital investment.  The costs associated with using any of these three programs will come from the work hours associated with learning how to use any/all of the programs properly.  Google Docs and Zoho Writer would probably take the same amount of time as they are pretty close to each other in terms of functionality.  Since Wiki could be used for project management type activities as well as document collaboration, it would require slightly more time for users to get familiar with and effectively use.  Once the initial time investments are made with any of these programs, groups would probably save time (and ultimately money) when using any of the three internet based collaboration tools rather than MS Word.


(f)Personal experience in ease of use, document sharing and collaboration

MS Word 2003/2007: Personally I think MS Word is easy to use because it is more familiar than other tools. It is a good tool to use because it has got numerous useful features. It can be used independent of the internet connection. But for sharing and collaboration I will not use it when I have better options available.

Google Docs: I think Google docs is good to use but I would rather not go for it compared to Zoho writer which has got more features. Its easy to publish and share. To use it one has to depend on the internet connection.

Zoho writer:  I find Zoho writer to be very interesting. Its a new tool for me. I would prefer to use Zoho over MS Word, Google Docs and Wiki program. Its features are better than the rest. Its easy to use. Like Google Docs and Wiki program it has got real time editing which is not possible in MS Word. With Zoho writer one can work offline as well like MS word by using Google gears which is not possible in Google Docs and Wiki program. So I think its the best choice for sharing and collaboration.

Wiki program: I'm not very familiar with it. I think it is better for sharing and collaboration as compared to MS Word but it is not as good as Zoho writer. It has limited features. Also, it depends on the internet connection.


(g)Additional Topics

Zoho writer proved to be temperamental at first due to the issues our group had with everyone being able to view the group document.  When the document was first created and sharing rights were granted to everyone in the group, only the members who were already registed with Zoho could view & edit the document.  The members who registed with Zoho after being grated sharring rights were unable to view the document or the other collaborators.  To get around this problem, sharing rights had to be granted once again to those collaborators.