Apple iCloud vs Microsoft 365 | TrustRadius
Apple
iCloud is also great to keep access to photos synced across devices. Ex: I can snap a photo at a job site and have access to that photo on my desktop when I return to my office. I can then drop the photo into a document that is stored in iCloud and have instant access to that document on my iPad at a client’s office later in the day. Seamless transitions make life much easier.
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Microsoft
When working with CSV data files, if you don’t have a local software, it is a hassle to upload it to an online service. It takes too much time to upload it and to display it. If the file is too large, it cannot even be processed online. When you Excel on your local computer, everything becomes simple. The file is opened instantly. You can search and process the file as you want. The modifications are done instantly.
When you prepare a long document, it is much faster to work locally and the formatting is kept very well.
As the downside, it is not very well suited for collaboration. Some online competitors are much faster to use. Sharing, commenting and collaborative editing needs improvement.
Read full reviewPros
Apple
Syncing files, appointments, Notes and contacts. If I’m away from home, and set an appointment using my phone, that appointment automatically updates real time to my home laptop and vice-versa.
It stores files (e.g photos) nicely
Once it’s set up, it’s fairly easy to use.
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Microsoft
keeps me extremely organized. It is so easy to link calendars, emails, and documents.
keeps me well connected. It is so easy to send a quick message on teams or send an email to a group (for example, my particular team within the company).
easy to use. Everything is straightforward, making it easy to find an answer to a question. There is even a search option to figure out how to do something within Microsoft.
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Apple
Customization – iCloud is great at the stuff it does well. But it lacks features that some competitors (in Google Drive or Dropbox) do really well. API support for third-party apps is really great for some other people.
Remote use – Managing or accessing information from iCloud while not on one of your logged-in apple devices can sometimes be an issue. From a work computer for example. It doable, but the experience is much less user-friendly.
Ability to edit documents on the cloud similar to google docs or some other competitors
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Microsoft
I wish it was a little simpler to integrate things from one Microsoft Feature into another one. Perhaps I just don’t know the tricks for that yet…after all these years of using it.
I didn’t like how it defaulted to saving the document automatically with changes, like Google Docs, but it seems that has now changed, and is better now.
Generally, I really like how the suite works as is.
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Read full reviewLikelihood to Renew
Apple
It’s so seamless that I can’t imagine another product doing a better job synchronizing all of my devices. I simply do not think about it at all. Everything happens behind the scenes and I’m confident that Apple keeps my data safe and secure. I’m a happy customer as far as this is concerned. I have not had a bad experience with this service.
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Microsoft
There are many features of Office that we cannot replicate in any other tool. Plus people know it already. It’s not going away anytime soon.
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Read full reviewUsability
Apple
While it may be great to use with other Apple products, I find it’s an absolutist-style workflow to be debilitating and to lead to many problems. When you sign into the cloud, it completely takes over your device in many ways that you don’t notice at first until there is a problem.
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Microsoft
The interface of the different tools (this suite has MANY different tools) is usually simple to use and intuitive, and you can always re-arrange and add or remove the task you use most frequently from the menus and task bars.
Each tool / product includes a lot of features that may require a more intensive learning, but usually Office 365 tools are simple to learn from scratch, adding more knowledge as you required more advanced features
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Read full reviewPerformance
Apple
Occasionally, large files that haven’t yet been synced require a few minutes to pull down but I’ve rarely noticed delays. It does a good job of keeping data cached on my local machines while updating them with changes from other machines transparently.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Apple
Apple customer service is fantastic. iCloud is built with Apple in mind and its design is extremely intuitive and user-friendly. Additionally, whenever our team has encountered issues, the speed of Apple support has been more than timely in addressing our issues and solving our request. We have encountered relatively few issues in my time with the platform and this only improves our overall score for those who keep the platform stable.
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Microsoft
Over the past 8 years of using Microsoft 365, I have noticed that they change vendors often. This always leads to a poor experience in the beginning, then levels out after some time for the company to get things worked out. As a customer, it is really frustrating because I don’t have time when something isn’t working to have them “look into my issue” and get back with me. They have even closed a ticket I specifically told them to keep open. Your applications are only as good as the support.
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Read full reviewImplementation Rating
Apple
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Everything works and I use it all the time.
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Read full reviewAlternatives Considered
Apple
Apple does offer an alternative to Office & the Google Docs family but trusting to use it with both internal and external parties is tough. Google is more universal and easier for 3rd parties to collaborate with. Apple works well for a closed internal group that is native to Apple’s ecosystem. Google offers more storage space than Apple
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Microsoft
Compared to Docs & Sheets, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Sheets offer more functionality. Notepad is almost always pre-installed on Microsoft Word-enabled computers. This alternative to Microsoft Word isn’t as robust, but it’s free. Microsoft Publisher is incompatible with Adobe Illustrator , Adobe InDesign, or any other version of the Adobe Creative Suite. Microsoft 365 is a mashup of numerous well-known programs. We haven’t tried any other products because they have the same features or compatibility as our office products.
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Read full reviewReturn on Investment
Apple
If I lose track of my credentials or my continuing education documentation, I could end up not being able to renew my certification. This would lead to a major loss in revenue.
Time is money and having all of my required documents easily accessible in iCloud saves me time and allows me to work more efficiently.
My Apple devices were certainly not cheap purchases. iCloud has allowed me to maximize my productivity through synchronizing my work no matter which device I’m working on.
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Microsoft
I don’t have any ROI info because I am a technical staff who does not see those numbers. I will say that we are constantly using Teams/Outlook especially with the pandemic and digital collaboration has been made possible with Microsoft 365. As the work culture changes, our firm really leaned into this suite to adapt and change with it.
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