There was a time when anyone making a slide deck using presentation software was likely to use PowerPoint, with Apple’s Keynote being a close competitor. As time progressed, presentation platforms became available online and through mobile devices. In the initial years of this transition, PowerPoint lagged behind in the wake of online presentation suites and mobile device presentation apps. One of the most obvious competitors then was Google Slides, leading to the debate about Google Slides vs. PowerPoint.
Table of Contents
- Importance of Presentation Tools
- Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint: Historical Context
- Google Slides vs PowerPoint: Feature Comparison
- Case Studies: PowerPoint and Google Slides
- Conclusion
Importance of Presentation Tools
Presentations have become a staple for business professionals, teachers, students, and even people in the military. As using computers and mobile devices became easier with the improvement in easy-to-use graphical interfaces, people quickly switched to slide decks, video presentations, remote meetings, and other presentation delivery methods. People no longer needed whiteboards or oral presentations, as the visual aids offered by presentation software were just too good to let go of. This meant that presentation software was continuously improved and adapted for different devices.
Over the years, different presentation software has been accompanied by several accessories, such as presentation remotes and laser pointers. All of these have been virtually replaced in recent years with virtual apps or integrated features within presentation software that allow easy remote switching of slides through mobile devices and the ability to turn a cursor into a laser pointer. Furthermore, add-ins for different presentation platforms have emerged with innovative and ever-increasing options to enhance presentations.
Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint: Historical Context
The Rise of PowerPoint as a Presentation Software
Developed by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin during the 80s, it was a presentation software developed for Mac computers. Along the way, Gaskins and Austin also employed the help of a third developer, Thomas Rudkin. PowerPoint 1.0 for Mac was released in 1987, and 10,000 copies were sold. Shortly afterward, Microsoft acquired Forethought Inc., the company that made PowerPoint. It took some convincing from colleagues, leading Bill Gates to seriously think about PowerPoint being an effective software.
For a long time, PowerPoint remained the major presentation software for desktop computer users, more precisely, Windows and Mac users.
Emergence of Google Slides as a Viable PowerPoint Competitor
Nearly 20 years after its initial release, things began to change. The Internet had started taking the world by storm, and more people could use desktop computers than ever before. Not to mention, mobile devices started becoming ‘smarter.’ Then, Google launched its Google Docs Suite with an online version of a PowerPoint-like app. This app later became Google Slides. While Google was able to provide free online presentation software that could also enable the opening, editing, and sharing of PowerPoint-compatible files, Microsoft lagged in delivering a similar product. It wasn’t until 2012 that Microsoft PowerPoint came with proper online features. With the introduction of a free version called PowerPoint Online and later integration with Office 365 (now known as Microsoft 365), Microsoft caught up to Google Slides. Furthermore, the two became available for mobile devices, catering to the needs of smartphone users.
Google Slides vs PowerPoint: Feature Comparison
Accessibility and Device Compatibility
The first thing to consider when it comes to the Google Slides vs. PowerPoint debate is device compatibility. Back in the day, PowerPoint was limited to Windows and Mac computers, whereas Google Slides could mostly be used only through Internet-connected browsers. Much has changed since the launch of the Google Docs Suite, which led to what we now know as Google Slides. This means that both PowerPoint and Google Slides are now more compatible with different devices than ever before.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint has Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS apps. While Windows Phone is no longer produced, Microsoft released a version back then. Other than apps, PowerPoint is accessible through Internet browsers via the free but limited version called PowerPoint Online and the full-featured Microsoft 365 suite.
Google Slides
Google Slides was initially an online presentation app available via Internet-connected browsers. Later, it produced various apps for Android, iOS, Chrome OS, and Wear OS devices. Furthermore, you can also use Google Slides offline on a desktop computer using the Google Docs Offline Chrome extension. This extension also works with other Chromium-based web browsers like Edge.
Price Comparison
Before we discuss the features of both presentation platforms, it is worth discussing the pricing mechanism that Google and Microsoft use for their presentation software.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft provides a free version of PowerPoint via a Microsoft account that you can use to access an online version. Furthermore, it also comes with OneDrive integration and up to 5Gb of free cloud storage. The full-featured version of PowerPoint has different license types, with an annual recurring fee for personal, family, business, and enterprise use. Microsoft also offers free versions for educational institutions, teachers, and students. The classic 2021 version of PowerPoint is also available for one-time purchase and is called Office Home & Student 2021. However, this is for non-commercial use and is more of a version with limited features.
As of 2024, Microsoft 365 starts at $69.99 for a personal package or around $6 per user per month. Depending on your needs, you can opt for family, business, or enterprise packages.
Google Slides
While Google Slides has been free for users of Google accounts for quite some time, it also comes with premium packages. Unlike the Google Drive-integrated version with 15GB of cloud storage, the paid version of Google Slides comes integrated with Google Workspace, which has various versions for business use and an enterprise package. Google Workspace for Education provides free and discounted versions for educational use.
Unlike the free version of Google’s products, Google Workspace offers advanced security, cloud storage, and custom emails with all Google products like Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Calendar, and others integrated into one suite. Furthermore, it integrates with third-party apps for advanced integration for enterprise use.
Google Workspace can cost $6 per user per month or around $72 annually for a basic package. Other packages for business and enterprise use can cost more depending on the number of users.
Presentation Templates
Different presentation software has different templates, enabling end users to create customized slide decks to suit their needs. A number of native and third-party templates are available for both platforms.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint provides hundreds of templates that are accessible directly through its apps and online versions. You can also download PowerPoint templates from Office.com. Furthermore, more third-party developers provide customizable PowerPoint templates than Google Slides. SlideModel alone provides over 50,000 PowerPoint templates with various customizable characters, maps, diagrams, backgrounds, and layouts.
Google Slides
One of the things that Google Slides has lagged in is the provision of templates that are as good as PowerPoint. Not only are there fewer developers making templates for Google Slides, but the quality can also be often lacking. Compare that to the PowerPoint templates available via Office.com and third-party developers, and you will find PowerPoint to be a clear winner in this comparison. Suppose you are a Google Slides user searching for templates that can offer something similar to an experience provided by PowerPoint templates. In that case, you can either use PowerPoint templates in Google Slides or explore these Google Slides templates.
Basic Editing Features
The basic editing features of PowerPoint and Google Slides are quite similar, with a few exceptions. If you are new to presentation making, you might want to first see our articles about how to start and end a presentation.
Microsoft PowerPoint
A glance at the Home tab of the Ribbon menu provides basic editing features, including the fonts, text styles, size, and alignment options. Moreover, you can use this menu or the left sidebar to create, duplicate, add, or hide slides.
Google Slides
Besides the left sidebar, Google Slides provides basic editing features via the Format menu. This menu caters to text, alignment, spacing, and other basic features. The Slide menu has many layout selections, slide duplication, and creation features. Many basic formatting options are also visible from the Google Slides toolbar. What sets apart Google Slides formatting options is mainly the availability of different font families, with fewer editing and enhancement features such as text stylizing options in Google Slides.
Media Embedding Capabilities
Both PowerPoint and Google Slides provide various embedding options to embed content within slides.
Microsoft PowerPoint
PowerPoint via the Insert tab offers options to add pictures from your device and online, including via Bing search stock photos provided by Microsoft. You can also insert illustrations, cutout people, stickers, and cartoon characters provided within the app. PowerPoint also comes with stock icons, shapes, 3D models, symbols, charts, and the ability to add videos and audio to slides. The videos include not only ones from within your device but also online videos and stock videos provided by Microsoft. Unlike past versions, Microsoft has come a long way in offering embedding capability for YouTube videos and other platforms such as Vimeo, SlideShare, Stream, and Flip. Additionally, you can instantly record a screencast and insert it into a PowerPoint slide.
PowerPoint supports MP4, WMV, AVI, MOV, MPEG, and SWF video formats, as well as audio formats such as MP3, WAV, M4A, and WMA.
Google Slides
Google Slides provides shapes, tables, diagrams, charts, and WordArt that is similar but arguably inferior to PowerPoint. The embedding options offered by Google Slides are a close replica of PowerPoint. Available via the Insert menu, you can add images from your device via URL, Google search, your device camera by taking an instant photo, and Google Drive. Similarly, you can insert Audio and videos from YouTube and Google Drive.
Google Slides supports videos from MP4, AVI, MOV, and WMV formats, whereas supported audio file formats include MP3, WAV, and OGG. In terms of embedding capabilities, Google Slides is more geared towards online users, whereas PowerPoint also provides enhanced offline capability to embed videos and reasonable support to embed videos from popular video streaming platforms. Other features, such as making a screencast, require using third-party add-ons for Google Slides.
Annotation and Presentation Options
Microsoft PowerPoint
PowerPoint’s Draw tab and the Pointer options in Slideshow mode (accessible via the right-click menu) can highlight and turn your cursor into an instant laser pointer. You can also move the cursor to the bottom to reveal many of these features in slideshow mode and find options to zoom into text, view slide thumbnails, etc.
Google Slides
Regarding annotation and presentation features, Google Slides lags far behind PowerPoint. The Line and Scribble options are pretty limited, and while you can turn your cursor to a laser pointer or highlight text in Slideshow mode, PowerPoint’s ability to zoom and sort slides and Drawing tools cannot be matched.
Animations and Transitions
When it comes to animations and transitions, PowerPoint’s capability compared to Google Slides has often been overlooked.
Microsoft PowerPoint
The Transitions and Animations tab provides transitions and animations in PowerPoint. Slide switching is a pleasure if you know how to arrange the transitions from the very basic reveal, split, and fade to the advanced Morph transitions. Similarly, PowerPoint animations are divided into four major sections, including animations for Entrance, Emphasis, Exit, and Motion Paths. Motion Paths are the most complex PowerPoint animations, enabling the definition of a path for an animated object.
Google Slides
You can go to Insert -> Animation after selecting an object or Slide -> Transition after selecting a slide to reveal animations and transitions in Google Slides. Unfortunately, both animations and transitions in Google Slides are pretty basic and limited, unlike PowerPoint, which offers basic to advanced transitions and animations. For example, the PowerPoint morph transition can create the illusion of moving objects, and Motion Paths can reveal objects on a set path defined by the user.
File Conversion Capability
Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides support file conversion to different formats. However, some conversion options require third-party apps.
Microsoft PowerPoint
PowerPoint supports converting files to PDF, XPS, MPEG 4, WMV, EMF, RTF, SVG, BMP, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, ODP, and other formats. Many file conversion formats in PowerPoint are also native, such as the legacy PPT, PPA, POT, and PPS formats and the new formats PPTX, POTM, PPTM, PPSX, and POTX.
Google Slides
Google Slides provides native file conversion options to download your file as a PPTX, ODP, PDF, TXT, JPEG, PNG, or SVG file. However, to convert Google Slides to video or other formats, you must use third-party add-ons such as Creator Studio.
Collaboration and Teamwork Capabilities
In the wake of COVID-19 and remote working, the need for collaboration and teamwork, even for presentations, cannot be underestimated. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace have often tried competing in this niche using various products woven into their presentation software.
Microsoft PowerPoint
The fact that Microsoft doesn’t simply produce a presentation suite but an entire environment, from operating systems to remote meeting apps, gives it quite an advantage. PowerPoint comes integrated with OneDrive, Teams, Loop, Skype, and various other apps you can use to collaborate online. Depending on your Microsoft 365 subscription, some features are limited to enterprise users, particularly for the desktop version of PowerPoint. You can share your files using OneDrive with specific people or by generating a publicly accessible link. Use the online version of PowerPoint to embed a code to share your presentation online.
Collaboration on a Live PowerPoint file can be performed through a browser, the desktop, or the mobile version of PowerPoint. Furthermore, its integration with Microsoft Teams helps integrate PowerPoint natively for remote meetings.
Google Slides
Google Slides initiated online collaboration and sharing long before Microsoft adapted to the concept. The initial version of Google Slides readily provided options such as sharing the file of online cooperation via a direct link that Microsoft later integrated into PowerPoint. Furthermore, you can also use the Publish on the Web option in Google Slides to embed the slides online.
In terms of collaboration, what makes the real difference is the close integration of various Microsoft products with PowerPoint. In contrast, Google Drive and Google Meet have been trying to do the same for Google Slides, with the latter being less popular for remote meetings than Microsoft remote meeting apps such as Teams and Skype.
Unlike Microsoft, Google has struggled to leverage ChromeOS and Android as a primary choice for enterprise use since both operating systems lack the ability and compatible hardware to run heavy apps. Windows or Mac seems to be an obvious choice for end users when it comes to non-linear editing, research, graphic design, and other fields of work that require using resource-intensive apps. This also impacts the preference for Google Slides compared to Microsoft products such as PowerPoint, which integrates with the Microsoft-provided experience.
Pros and Cons of PowerPoint and Google Slides
While much can be said about PowerPoint and Google Slides’ features, let’s examine some of the pros and cons of using both presentation platforms.
Pros of Using Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint has a number of handy features that make it a worthy presentation software and live up to its reputation as an industry leader.
Feature Rich
PowerPoint is a feature-rich presentation software with many advanced features to help you edit, create, design, and present your slides with many user-friendly options.
Integration with Microsoft Products
PowerPoint, combined with the overall Microsoft experience, is based on its Windows operating systems, Teams, Skype, OneDrive, and other apps to provide support for PowerPoint.
Offline Access
Unlike Google Slides, which works best online, the offline version of PowerPoint allows users to create and present slides offline without requiring Internet connectivity.
Availability of PowerPoint Templates
You can find PowerPoint templates on any topic imaginable, with countless third-party developers adding free and premium templates daily. This ever-expanding resource is something that presenters can always leverage to make their presentation visually appealing and with easy-to-edit templates.
Advanced Collaboration Features
While PowerPoint was late in providing online collaboration features, the ability to work remotely has been expanding and improving once integrated.
Add-ins and Integration with Third-Party Apps
PowerPoint add-ins and third-party app integration have been seamless and ever-expanding. Not only can you use a wide array of add-ins to further enhance PowerPoint features, but you can also integrate it with various third-party platforms and apps such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Zapier, Bing Translate, etc.
Integration of AI
In recent years, Microsoft has been quick to integrate AI in PowerPoint. From PowerPoint’s Designer feature and Bing Translation tool to the integration of Copilot, Microsoft has been quickly enabling end users to leverage AI to create and design slides.
Cons of using Microsoft PowerPoint
While PowerPoint has many benefits, end users should also consider a number of cons.
Expensive Cost Structure
PowerPoint can be quite costly, and not everyone will be willing or able to afford a hefty annual recurring fee. The free version and license for noncommercial use have stringent requirements from which few can benefit. The free version of PowerPoint available as PowerPoint online has limited features.
Platform Dependency
While PowerPoint has an online version with ever-increasing features and mobile versions for Android and iOS, it is still more of a desktop app. We can argue that the online version isn’t as smooth as the functionality of the desktop version, and the mobile apps still leave a lot to be desired. Other than the Mac version of PowerPoint, it has been designed to integrate with Microsoft OS and apps, making it somewhat platform-dependent.
Pros of Using Google Slides
Google Slides has various pros as a presentation app for different types of end users.
Cloud-Based and Cross-Platform Accessibility
The promise of Google Slides or Google’s suite was always ease of access through the Internet and cross-platform compatibility. Like other Google products of its kind, Google Slides provides ease of access via the Internet and accessibility regardless of what operating system you are using. Using a modern browser allows you to access and use Google Slides without any platform dependency.
Economical Option for Making Presentations
Using the full-featured PowerPoint can be quite expensive, whereas Google Slides provides all basic features in the free version, with the option to upgrade to Google Workspace for more advanced features. Furthermore, Google Drive comes with 15GB of free cloud storage space compared to the meager 5GB provided by OneDrive. This can be helpful for long-term use for storing presentations online.
Compatibility with PowerPoint Files
If you can’t afford PowerPoint, Google Slides can be the next best thing. It provides compatibility for PowerPoint files, with the option to convert files in various other file formats such as PDF, RTF, ODP, etc. You can even start a presentation using Google Slides and download it as a PowerPoint file for use with PowerPoint. While many other apps also offer such features, the compatibility of Google Slides with PowerPoint files is one of the best you can find.
Integration of Google-Based Apps
Google Slides is integrated with other Google products, including Gmail, Google Drive, Google Meet, Google Forms, and Google Photos. You will find Google Slides quite convenient if you’re used to these products.
Third-Party App Integration
Google Slides integrates with a number of third-party apps such as Adobe Spark, Canva, Lucidchart, Asana, etc. You can access Google Slides add-ons via the Extensions menu. The add-ons available for Google Slides are mainly for online platforms that integrate with Google Slides.
Cons of Using Google Slides
While Google Slides has been a great free alternative to PowerPoint, it does have various limitations.
Limited Features
When it comes to Google Slides vs. PowerPoint, the latter clearly offers more enhanced features that Google Slides has yet to match. Whether it’s the use of advanced transitions and animations, AI, design features, or basic editing and presentation options, PowerPoint wins by a mile.
Weak Offline Support
Google Slides is primarily an online app with weak offline support. Unlike PowerPoint, it is very hard, if not impossible, to create, edit, and present a presentation entirely offline using Google Slides.
Case Studies: PowerPoint and Google Slides
Use by the US Military
There have been many instances where PowerPoint stood out as a presentation software and times when it took flak for the phenomenon called death by PowerPoint. The use of PowerPoint by the American military is well documented. The concept came to light amidst criticism of how bad the presentations were. This led to an article in The New York Times titled, ‘We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is PowerPoint’. Eventually, Microsoft intervened and sent in executive communications manager Dave Karle to rectify the problem. However, the case of death by PowerPoint in the US military is attributed not to the presentation software but to how it is inaccurately used to create presentations.
Google I/O
Google Slides has many examples of case studies and events where it has been a regular feature. Google’s annual developer conference, called Google I/O, is famous for featuring presentations on Google Slides. In 2018, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other senior officials used Google Slides during Google I/O as a part of the major event highlights. Google Slides has often been used in Google I/O events as a presentation platform by Google’s top management and remains the central app for keynote presentations.
TED Talks
While the US military might have a lot to learn about using PowerPoint, presenters at TED Talks often use it with quite some dexterity. PowerPoint and Google Slides have been regular features of TED Talks and are used by different types of presenters to express their ideas and explain various concepts.
Conclusion
While Google Slide provides an economical and easy-to-access alternative to PowerPoint, the latter remains an industry leader with features that Google Slides has yet to catch up to. While Google Slides had an edge in the past regarding online collaboration and sharing features, once PowerPoint became available online, Google struggled to match the features offered by PowerPoint and lacked the support of operating systems and other apps used by businesses that come integrated with PowerPoint.
Windows-based operating systems, including client OS and servers, come integrated in an environment where the Office suite provides powerful support to PowerPoint users in an integrated environment. On the contrary, Google has failed to leverage Android or Chrome OS as a powerful operating system that can do the heavy lifting regarding enterprise-level software integration. Microsoft-based products are an obvious choice, even if some of the organization’s base infrastructure uses other operating systems, such as CentOS or Red Hat, to maintain its servers. This is because Windows is still a famous client operating system and Android and Chrome OS cannot match when running heavy applications for design, development, research, etc.
In conclusion, Google Slides serves as an economical alternative to PowerPoint. The latter is still the industry leader in presentation software and has yet to be dethroned.
