Showdown: GoogleDocs vs. MS Office

Will cloud computing be the way of the future? How long can Microsoft hold on to its large market share of document processing software? It's hard to tell at the moment but Google is certainly going to make Microsoft rethink their strategy. GoogleDocs gives people the option for a free, online office suite to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Other than being free, Google's other advantage is that they offer storage space so that your saved files can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection. Add in simple to use features, real time collaboration, and peace of mind knowing you won't lose your files and GoogleDocs seems like a great alternative to dropping several hundred dollars on Microsoft Office. Microsoft isn't going down without a fight though. They introduced the Live Workspace a couple years ago that allows users to upload their files and store them on the cloud. However, this feature of Office doesn't allow for online collaboration and lacks several other features that GoogleDocs offers. Ultimately, I believe Office will reign supreme for several more years based on that their software has such extensive features that most businesses and institutions will continue to purchase large license agreements from Microsoft. However, the average user who cannot afford or does not require all the features of Office will move towards GoogleDocs and its free services.