Difference between revisions of "Competitor Analysis"
(Replacing the "PPT 2007" column with a "PPT 2010" column to match the new additions to the site detailed over the internet) |
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+ | The Office 2010 column may not be completely precise, as I have never used it, but trust in one of my friends, screens from the net, and similarities with Office 2007 instead. | ||
+ | |||
+ | There's more to come. Or, if anybody wants to add these topics, go ahead: Installation, updating, Help, adding/removing slides, audio/video (setting audio to start/stop on slides, embedding and playing back a video), inserting images, creating templates, and downloading and working with language tools (grammar/spell checking). Also be sure to add your opinions to the "Thoughts" rows. | ||
+ | |||
+ | You can also add screenshots (be aware of copyright issues [http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/permissions/default.mspx#E3C] [http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/copyright.html], as Apple is particularly known for suing people who post unauthorized screenshots), other presentation applications, comments, links, and other things that could be useful. And feel free to correct me if I'm doing this wrong. | ||
+ | |||
{|class="wikitable" border="1" | {|class="wikitable" border="1" | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | ! !!MS PowerPoint | + | ! !! MS PowerPoint 2010 (an early build) !! MS Powerpoint 2008 (Mac) !! Apple Keynote '09 !! Google Docs (as of June 2009) |
|- valign="top" | |- valign="top" | ||
| '''Default UI overview''' | | '''Default UI overview''' | ||
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* the Quick Access toolbar for the user's "favorite" commands | * the Quick Access toolbar for the user's "favorite" commands | ||
* inconsistencies in the UI: | * inconsistencies in the UI: | ||
− | |||
** the commonly-used buttons Undo, Redo, and Repeat are inexplicably not found in the ribbon, instead being in the QA toolbar | ** the commonly-used buttons Undo, Redo, and Repeat are inexplicably not found in the ribbon, instead being in the QA toolbar | ||
** the Help button, found on the right of the ribbon as the only button in the ribbon tab bar | ** the Help button, found on the right of the ribbon as the only button in the ribbon tab bar | ||
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| Thoughts | | Thoughts | ||
| colspan="4" | | | colspan="4" | | ||
− | I'd say the ribbon is the best quick-access interface of the pack, as it provides one central place to browse through, provides the most common options right up front (except for the Insert options), but it does suffer a bit from illogical organization and lack of flexibility (no | + | I'd say the ribbon is the best quick-access interface of the pack, as it provides one central place to browse through, provides the most common options right up front (except for the Insert options), but it does suffer a bit from slight illogical organization and lack of flexibility (no vertical interface, previously also lack of customizability). The inspector palettes in iWork and Mac:Office are good contenders for a useable vertical interface, but both have their share of disadvantages. For example, the fact that they are floating means that they can hide portions of the document. The MS Toolbox is overstuffed with features, as the tools that iWork spreads out nicely in the Inspector are crammed into one tab in the MS Toolbox. Both also suffer from unclear tab icons. |
|- valign="top" | |- valign="top" | ||
| '''Scrolling''' | | '''Scrolling''' | ||
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|- valign="top" | |- valign="top" | ||
| '''Lists''' | | '''Lists''' | ||
− | |||
− | |||
| | | | ||
* Text bulleted by default (in some masters) | * Text bulleted by default (in some masters) | ||
− | |||
* In PowerPoint, two consecutive "enters" creates a line break and continues with the list at the same hierarchical level | * In PowerPoint, two consecutive "enters" creates a line break and continues with the list at the same hierarchical level | ||
* In Word, however, two consecutive "enters" move the list to the superior level, and when there are no more, end the list | * In Word, however, two consecutive "enters" move the list to the superior level, and when there are no more, end the list | ||
− | * In | + | * In PowerPoint, a backspace deletes the bullet, but keeps the indent. |
* Custom bullets | * Custom bullets | ||
− | * No outline numbering in | + | * No outline numbering in PowerPoint, but present in Word |
− | * Moving items left and right arguably easy (although it makes the text smaller with each level); moving it up and down has to be done manually | + | * Moving items left and right arguably easy (although it makes the text smaller with each level and keeps the same bullet); moving it up and down has to be done manually |
+ | * Inserted and managed through the Home tab | ||
+ | | | ||
+ | Same as its Windows counterpart except: | ||
+ | * Inserted and managed through Format > Bullets and Numbering..., the Formatting Pane, or the hidden-by-default formatting toolbar | ||
| | | | ||
* Text bulleted by default (in some masters) | * Text bulleted by default (in some masters) | ||
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| '''Customization''' | | '''Customization''' | ||
| | | | ||
− | + | * Customizable Ribbon tabs, groups, and commands, both static and contextual; these customizations are saveable. | |
+ | More to come... | ||
| | | | ||
* Customizable toolbar and menu items | * Customizable toolbar and menu items | ||
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|- valign="top" | |- valign="top" | ||
| '''Image manipulation''' | | '''Image manipulation''' | ||
− | | | + | | |
+ | * Easy rotating with a green "rotate" button above the image; also has a "size, rotation, and ordering" section in the toolbox, where the size can be typed in numerically, the image can be flipped, and distributed and aligned with other objects. | ||
+ | * Restricted positioning | ||
+ | * Outline, shadow, reflection, glow, soft edges, 3D, sharpness/softness, brightness, contrast, saturation, tone, recolor, filters, size, crop, and arrangement all set from the ribbon | ||
+ | * "Background removal" and "Set transparent color" features | ||
+ | * Live preview while cropping | ||
| | | | ||
* Easy rotating with a green "rotate" button above the image; also has a "size, rotation, and ordering" section in the toolbox, where the size can be typed in numerically, the image can be flipped, and distributed and aligned with other objects. | * Easy rotating with a green "rotate" button above the image; also has a "size, rotation, and ordering" section in the toolbox, where the size can be typed in numerically, the image can be flipped, and distributed and aligned with other objects. | ||
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| Thoughts | | Thoughts | ||
| colspan="4" | | | colspan="4" | | ||
− | The "Metrics" tab in iWork and the "Image adjustments" palette are wonderfully simple and straightforward while retaining a number of features. The best transparency feature seems to be in the planned Office 14 [http://www.beingmanan.com/wp/2009/05/office-2010-new-features/], where one can specify by drawing | + | The "Metrics" tab in iWork and the "Image adjustments" palette are wonderfully simple and straightforward while retaining a number of features. The best transparency feature seems to be in the planned Office 14 [http://www.beingmanan.com/wp/2009/05/office-2010-new-features/], where one can specify by drawing lines over the places the selection should include and different lines over the places it shouldn't, all with live preview that highlights in purple the areas to be removed. |
|- valign="top" | |- valign="top" | ||
| '''Compatibility checks''' | | '''Compatibility checks''' | ||
− | | | + | | |
+ | * When trying to save to PPT, the user gets a precise list of what is incompatible. | ||
+ | * Saving to ODP (newly supported) gives a compatibility warning, but doesn't say what might be incompatible. It does this even with completely blank presentations. | ||
| | | | ||
* The "Save as..." dialog provides a "Compatibility Report..." button, but when a user tries to save to a not-completely-compatible format, he gets no forced warning. | * The "Save as..." dialog provides a "Compatibility Report..." button, but when a user tries to save to a not-completely-compatible format, he gets no forced warning. | ||
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| | | | ||
* Accessible through: | * Accessible through: | ||
− | ** Slide Show > From Beginning, From Current Slide, or Custom Slide Show | + | ** Slide Show > From Beginning, From Current Slide, Broadcast Slide Show, or Custom Slide Show |
** The view selector in the status bar (on the right) | ** The view selector in the status bar (on the right) | ||
* Presentation mode gives four buttons: | * Presentation mode gives four buttons: | ||
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| | | | ||
* E-mail sharing, as well as sharing through a document management server and creating a document workspace | * E-mail sharing, as well as sharing through a document management server and creating a document workspace | ||
+ | * A "Broadcast Slideshow" feature, integrated with Microsoft's upcoming online PowerPoint application | ||
* Comments (aka. notes in Writer) shown as a small box, which, when clicked, reveals its contents, and, when double-clicked, allows editing | * Comments (aka. notes in Writer) shown as a small box, which, when clicked, reveals its contents, and, when double-clicked, allows editing | ||
* Comments easily added, browsed, deleted, and even shared through the Review tab in the ribbon | * Comments easily added, browsed, deleted, and even shared through the Review tab in the ribbon | ||
+ | There's probably more. | ||
| | | | ||
* Practically no collaboration features, except classic e-mail sharing | * Practically no collaboration features, except classic e-mail sharing | ||
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| '''Transitions''' | | '''Transitions''' | ||
| | | | ||
− | * Added and managed through | + | * Added and managed through a gallery under a new Transitions tab |
* Custom: | * Custom: | ||
− | ** | + | ** Duration |
** Sound | ** Sound | ||
− | ** Advance slide on click or | + | ** Advance slide on click or after __ |
− | * Different directions presented | + | ** Different directions presented under "Effect options" |
| | | | ||
* Added through: | * Added through: | ||
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No transitions option. | No transitions option. | ||
|} | |} | ||
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− | |||
− |
Revision as of 08:34, 6 July 2009
The Office 2010 column may not be completely precise, as I have never used it, but trust in one of my friends, screens from the net, and similarities with Office 2007 instead.
There's more to come. Or, if anybody wants to add these topics, go ahead: Installation, updating, Help, adding/removing slides, audio/video (setting audio to start/stop on slides, embedding and playing back a video), inserting images, creating templates, and downloading and working with language tools (grammar/spell checking). Also be sure to add your opinions to the "Thoughts" rows.
You can also add screenshots (be aware of copyright issues [1] [2], as Apple is particularly known for suing people who post unauthorized screenshots), other presentation applications, comments, links, and other things that could be useful. And feel free to correct me if I'm doing this wrong.
MS PowerPoint 2010 (an early build) | MS Powerpoint 2008 (Mac) | Apple Keynote '09 | Google Docs (as of June 2009) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Default UI overview
(the main interface is bolded) |
|
|
|
|
Thoughts |
I'd say the ribbon is the best quick-access interface of the pack, as it provides one central place to browse through, provides the most common options right up front (except for the Insert options), but it does suffer a bit from slight illogical organization and lack of flexibility (no vertical interface, previously also lack of customizability). The inspector palettes in iWork and Mac:Office are good contenders for a useable vertical interface, but both have their share of disadvantages. For example, the fact that they are floating means that they can hide portions of the document. The MS Toolbox is overstuffed with features, as the tools that iWork spreads out nicely in the Inspector are crammed into one tab in the MS Toolbox. Both also suffer from unclear tab icons. | |||
Scrolling | Scrolls through slides, but doesn't show two slides at once | Behaves like its Windows counterpart | Scrolls within the slide only | No scrolling by default (the zoom changes as the window is resized), but, with zoom, one can scroll the slide only |
Thoughts |
None of these behaviors is ideal or consistent with other applications in the suite (no option allows two slides to be shown at once) for no good reason, but the MS PowerPoint behavior is preferrable over the others. | |||
Dragging/editing textboxes |
|
Same as its Windows counterpart |
|
|
Thoughts |
Moving items in Keynote is a pleasure, due to the reasons listed above and the fact that the user doesn't have to struggle to select the textbox (it's one click anywhere on the textbox, as, unlike its competitors, double-clicking is required to edit it). This is definitely something OOo should take note of. | |||
Lists |
|
Same as its Windows counterpart except:
|
|
|
Thoughts |
None of these behaviors seem to be completely logical or expected. Google Docs at least maintains consistency across its suite's applications, but uses the strange behavior of enter, where, instead of giving new blank lines each time, as it does with non-bulleted indented lists, the indent is decreased. Anyway, instead of repeating the same info over and over again, let me just say what I think we should have, based on logic:
| |||
Customization |
More to come... |
|
|
|
Paste Special | A floating, contextual drop-down button, which presents three choices: "Keep Source Formatting," "Use Destination Theme," and "Keep Text Only" | Same as its Windows counterpart. | Split into two Edit options: "Paste" and "Paste and match style". | No paste special |
Thoughts |
Microsoft's implementation of paste special seems the best, as it allows the user to use the Command/Ctrl+V shortcut and then decide how it is pasted. | |||
Image manipulation |
|
|
|
* Unrestricted positioning (but no live preview)
|
Thoughts |
The "Metrics" tab in iWork and the "Image adjustments" palette are wonderfully simple and straightforward while retaining a number of features. The best transparency feature seems to be in the planned Office 14 [7], where one can specify by drawing lines over the places the selection should include and different lines over the places it shouldn't, all with live preview that highlights in purple the areas to be removed. | |||
Compatibility checks |
|
|
|
|
Slide show |
|
|
|
|
Collaboration |
There's probably more. |
|
|
|
Thoughts |
It's surprising that nobody really has built-in chat (except Google Docs, when viewing a presentation). I heard this was to change with MS Office 2010, but we'll see. Otherwise, Google Docs is the clear winner in this category, but that's because it's an online service. iWork begins to pave the way toward integration with online services, but ties with only its paid iWork.com and is sure to attract only a very tiny audience. This is also something Microsoft is working on -- they're about to introduce an online version of Office, and it's almost definitely going to integrate with Microsoft Office. We need to work on this if we want to stay a viable competitor. | |||
Tables |
Inserted through Insert>Table, which gives the "table insertion grid" as well as "Insert table...," "Draw table," and "Excel spreadsheet" options below the grid. The grid is 8-by-10 and doesn't expand beyond that. Selected, moved and resized with:
In Word:
|
Inserted through:
Selected, moved, and resized the same way as in Windows |
Inserted through:
Selected, moved, and resized with:
In Numbers:
|
No obvious way to insert a table. Cells in tables in uploaded documents are changed to text boxes. |
Thoughts |
The "table grid" insert behavior seems to be the quickest and most comfortable. The Apple behavior in everything else (moving, selecting, etc.) seems to be easiest, most logical, and most comfortable. The differences between Keynote and Numbers have their own reasons and benefits. | |||
Transitions |
|
|
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No transitions option. |