Google Workspace - the Best Small and Micro Business Software

As many of you may know, I switched from Microsoft Windows 11 to MacOS and Ubuntu Linux on my machines for business and privacy reasons. I became very dependent on Microsoft Windows throughout my entire life as the only way to manage tasks and email, homework assignments in high school and college, and running my small businesses.

In my late 20's and early 30's I decided to give Linux a try. While this was an optimistic choice, back then Linux was not the user friendly OS we know today, which brings me to the reasons why I also moved away from all Microsoft products and let Google Workspace take the reins of email, collaboration, and my business needs.

Microsoft was once a leader, in my opinion, and Google always seemed to be at their heels in software development after the mega search engine launched back in 1998. Up until Google launched Google+, Gmail, etc., back in the day, I was a dedicated Microsoft Windows / Office user.

Today Microsoft has become the mass data collection business we all know. From Windows 10 onward (possibly an even earlier version), Microsoft has been collecting user data in place of charging an upgrade fee for it's OS - and it took me quite a while to realize just how much data they collect. So today, when we spend $1000 plus for a Windows PC, we may think that we own it, but really we just paid $1000 to a PC manufacturer to allow Microsoft to own our data - including the additional software of office and onedrive, even if you're using a different OS outside of Windows.

Just like social media today, we are the product in the eyes of Microsoft.

At this point, I decided to go back to Google Workspace with a paid subscription. Google may have been defined as the 'Big Brother' of data collection - but in my opinion, and based on their terms of service, they do not collect nearly as much data as Microsoft attempts to do today.

Since Google Workspace is a cloud based software suite, you can access your entire digital personal and business needs from anywhere.

I personally never had an issue with Google Workspace as far as server outages and security is concerned (paid or free versions), like I have with Microsoft Office online. Don't get me wrong, I still have a love for Windows deep inside of me, but in the reality of things today with data collection and viruses (no OS is completely safe from viruses) that I had found on my Windows machines (two Trojans to be exact - one on my PC and one on my laptop within the past 3 months), I'm taking my personal and business digital life and data quite a bit more seriously in late 2025.