Google vs Microsoft

It's a lengthy one, so strap in!

When you're looking for an all-in-one solution that can handle emails, documents, spreadsheets, forms etc. There are 2 main competitors. 

Google vs Microsoft

Apple would be in here, but really their cloud suite is a mile behind what Google and Microsoft offer.

These days most of what we do can be handled in a web browser from creating and managing documents and files to writing emails and designing spreadsheets. Google and Microsoft have great tools for all of this and more but which one is most suitable and why?

In this post I'll go through my vast experience with both tools and explain their pros and cons to help you best decide which is best for you. 

Whether you're starting a business or just need a personal email, Google and Microsoft can offer you a range of tools for free which can aid in your journey let's take a look at what each platform can offer.

Google

Google has a good range of tools available and all are available in the web. Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms are all there to enable you to get what you need out of an all-in-one solution.

What's more is that using a Google account means being able to create Chrome profiles, a brilliant way of ensuring you have a consistent experience on the web, whatever device you're on.

From a personal perspective, having a Google account is a no brainer to me. An incredibly valuable aspect of having a Google account is the ability to use SSO (Single Sign On) on so many platforms meaning that your log in is super secure (providing you setup your 2 Step Verification and account recovery methods) and you don't have to keep remembering those pesky passwords!

Speaking of passwords, I don't really recommend using the inbuilt password management options with either Microsoft or Google as they tend to lack quite valuable features such as Google lacking the functionality of storing 2 Step Verification data. I'll cover more about 2 Step Verification methods in a later blog post.

Gmail and Calendar are great tools. The Gmail app is a far better experience in my opinion than Outlook or some of the other third party mail apps. I think that Google's use of their Material UI framework really comes into play in all of their apps making them easy to navigate and get used to. 

After using Google tools for some time, other platforms can appear clunky and unresponsive.

Microsoft

Microsoft does also offer a range of tools in the web but they also have a bunch of apps that can be run locally on your PC. While Google Does (kinda) give you the ability to do this. The apps still run in a browser environment so haven't got the full capability of the computer's resources.

On the web though, Microsoft's toolset is far more advanced than Googles, offering more tools and with the use of Microsoft's office tools taking a majority in the workplace it's likely most people would feel right at home using them.

Microsoft does have the ability, like Google Chrome profiles, to sign you into your Microsoft Edge browser, giving that consistency across devices...if you're happy using Edge that is. It's not a bad browser by any means however it tries to throw so much in your face all at once, and shove AI copilot down your throat, that scared me off pretty quickly. 

Briefly and slightly detracting from this post, I do wish that Google would introduce the vertical tabs feature that Microsoft Edge has. It's a really unique feature and I actually really enjoyed it while I was using Edge.

Back to the main point. Outlook is a good tool, it houses your emails and calendar in one so you don't have to go far for either but what on earth is up with the search?! If I want to find an email, I'd better be damn sure I know exactly who it came from, when and what the senders cats first name is otherwise I'm not finding that email. Gmail's search is better but not perfect, highlighting key word searches which can help me find my emails a bit quicker although, advanced search is limited in Gmail so bare that in mind.

Personal use choice

My personal usage choice would always be Google. The ability to use SSO on most sites is too good to miss out on and for me, the tools are quick and easy to use.

What's more, Microsoft's free personal Office 365 is chocked full of ads (yuck!) and you're limited to a measly 5GB cloud storage plan. While Google's 15GB isn't massive it's more than enough to store a tonne of documents, spreadsheets, forms and even a decent amount of photos.

Microsoft SSO is available on some sites but isn't as widely spread as Google's. Additionally, I've lost count of the amount of times I've had problems logging into and managing my Microsoft account.

Workplace choice

If you're starting a business however the play gets completely flipped. If you start out on a Google Workspace account you will probably realise at some point that Google seriously lacks a tonne of useful apps that Microsoft includes with it's plans and this doesn't forgive the price difference! £5 or £6 per month for Google or £7 or £8 per month (at the time of writing) for the basic plans on each platform is a totally insignificant difference for the dramatic change in tool availability and cloud storage. How on earth can Google charge you roughly £5 per month for 30GB of storage while Microsoft can give you 1TB for £7 per month?!

What many people don't consider also is compatibility as well. While it may not seem much at first, many other workplaces are run on Office 365 so doing business with other companies is far more streamlined with a Microsoft 365 workspace. If you're planning on starting some kind of healthcare business or company that works with the government then choosing Microsoft actually becomes the no-brainer as many NHS trusts WILL NOT USE GOOGLE FOR ANYTHING. The problems range from them sending documents in a .docx format which Google Docs absolutely destroys the formatting on to not being able to book calls and sheepishly asking your customer to book a call for you which in my opinion is embarrassing.

This is my experience and honestly I could rant all day about Google not having any whiteboarding tools in their arsenal, not having a good enough appointment booking system but I'd be here for ages. So to drum it all up in one. Just spend the extra £2 per month and go with Microsoft. The cost difference more than makes up for itself.

What about both?

Yes that's right, you can actually have both and not have to worry about doubling up on the amount of email addresses you have. You can either create a Google account (personal choice) to get a Gmail address and then use that to create a Microsoft account or visa versa. 

Like I said above though, my recommendation for personal accounts would be to create a Gmail address and then use that to create your Microsoft account. For workplaces or small business, I would suggest you start that Microsoft 365 subscription and then use your email from that to create your Google account. This way you will have one email in your main platform, either Gmail with an @gmail.com address or Microsoft with a personalised custom email domain like example@something.com. But you will still have access to other tools on the secondary provider's ecosystem. 

And to bring Apple back into the mix, you can create an Apple account with whatever email you want. You don't have to sign up for an iCloud email address just because you use an iPhone or a Mac.

If you made it all the way to end then congratulations! Honestly, I felt myself getting a little frustrated about each platforms drawbacks at the end there. If you'd like to know more about how to access some of the features I mentioned above let me know!

There is much more to cover on each of the topics I mentioned above so make sure to follow me for more in depth analysis in each area.