Google Calendar Vs. Outlook
Both Google Calendar and Outlook offer powerful calendar management features for individuals and businesses. The Google Calendar service is provided for free with your Google account, while Outlook is packaged as part of the Microsoft Office suite. Choosing one over the other is a matter of determining which features are of most importance to you, when using your digital calendar from day-to-day.
The Outlook software runs on your desktop and allows you to manage your events without an Internet connection. You only need Internet access when sharing the calendar with other users. The Google Calendar interface only runs in your browser. However, it works in any browser, along with your Google account. Offline access is available in the Chrome browser when the Google Calendar extension is installed, but with limited features.
Google Calendar offers a "quick add" feature, where you create events using simple sentences (i.e. "02/16 2pm Afternoon Meeting." Both Outlook and Google Calendar allow you to attach relevant files to events; Google Calendar also offers the option to add a video call to the event for off-site meeting attendees. Google Calendar adds an option for "event flair," which are optional icons that allow you to see at a glance what an event is about. It also uses background styles and icons that make it easy to visually decode your events.
Outlook provides five views for your calendars: the day view, the work week view, the full week view, the month view and the schedule view. Users may change their view at the click of a button, and flip between them. Google Calendar offers similar views: Day, Week, Month, Agenda and a customizable day range. Like with Outlook, users switch between these views by clicking a button.
Google Calendar allows you to create collaborative calendars. Calendar offers four permissions for other users added to the calendar, ranging from the ability to modify events and invite users, to permission to only see events on the calendar. Google also allows public calendars, which makes your events visible in search results. Outlook offers three ways to share your calendar. You can send the calendar via email to other users, share it with other Exchange users using a Microsoft Exchange Server account or publish the calendar online to a WebDAV server.
Outlook and Google Calendar share a lot of features wrapped in different language; this makes the initial change a little confusing. For instance, in Google Calendar, you create an event, while in Outlook you create an appointment or meeting. Google Calendar allows you to add guests to events or leave the events private. Outlook uses "recurring" for repeated events, while Google uses "repeating."
Information in this article applies to Microsoft Outlook 2013 and Google Calendar. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.
Ashley Poland has been writing since 2009. She has worked with local online businesses, supplying print and web content, and pursues an active interest in the computer, technology and gaming industries. In addition to content writing, Poland is also a fiction writer. She studied creative writing at Kansas State University.