Microsoft Word Online vs. Google Docs

Why Both Are Great:

1. Collaborate and share with others - work on a document in live time; collaborate on whole folders of documents; share with others via a link or email with various levels of editing rights
2. Auto-save feature - no more backup files as documents save every few seconds
3. Sync all your documents in a clouded drive - access your work from any device by signing into an account

How They Differ:

At first glance, One Drive and the comparable Google Drive offer many of the same types of documents to create. OneDrive does not offer a Drawing option, but this is not that great of a feature in my opinion as there are many better drawing tools available online.

A major benefit of One Drive over Google Drive is an online version of OneNote.

But apparently Google offers OneNote as as an App in the Chrome Store:

What’s a greater concern is the mere 3 GB of storage space on One Drive with the ability to upgrade by recommending the service. This is extremely limited when considering that Google offers 15GB of free storage (30GB if you are signed up at work or school).

For additional reasons Google Docs edges out the competition see this article: 10 Reasons Why Google Docs is better than Word Online.

On the flip side, there is a not-as-convincing list: 5 Reasons for Microsoft fans to dump Google Docs.

Though the above article does bring up a key problem with Google Docs: FORMATTING. If you don't know what I am talking about, read about the way Google Docs often alters original formatting when documents are converted.  

Personally, the only time I ran into formatting issues in my daily use of Docs was when I printed pages, but I do admit it can be a problem. Ironically, it was the Word Online document’s formatting that was disarranged during my demo.

The Bottom Line:

If you work in an environment that is already utilizing Microsoft products or produced highly formatted documents, Word Online is an ideal tool to increase collaboration and sync work. However, if you regularly use Google tools (like I do in a Google certified school) than it makes more sense to stick with Google tools.

For more information, see this comparison of Word Online and Google Docs.