https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6055139?hl=en

Remember back when you couldn’t send an Office file between a Mac and a PC and expect it to come out right?  Well, you’d think a company like Google would have learned from that.

The business world relies on Microsoft Office.  And for years PC and Mac users have been able to swap files with little to no compatibility issues.  It seemed as though we had finally reached equilibrium where the world’s leading office productivity suite was just about platform agnostic.  That was the dream.

In Google App’s case, history repeats itself.  Working with or saving as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files in Google Apps means you’re doing it in “Office Compatibility Mode”.  What does that really mean?  It means that Google Apps translates the file formats you upload to its own proprietary code.  Then when it’s time to send that file back to someone in a format they use, Google Apps translates it back.  And guess what, the more complex your document is, the greater chance something is lost or mixed up in that translation.  At the end of the day, relying on Office Compatibility Mode means you can never trust a document will be formatted properly when you share it with Office users.

Backstage doesn’t care about what word processor, spread sheet, or presentation app you rely on.  It syncs your files not matter what.  We recognize the world runs on Office and that people share Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files expecting them to look like they way they were created.  The vast majority of our clients can’t be confined to the rudimentary subtitles Google Apps offers to Microsoft Office.  Backstage doesn’t lock you into a web browser of mess with the formatting of your files.  If you need to get real work done, and if you can’t live out of a web browser, Backstage ensures you don’t have to.