ProjectSpaces vs. Groove

Overview: Groove is a peer-to-peer collaboration tool rather than a browser-based tool, which means it can do some really slick things from a user interface perspective and allow you to click and drag just like you are in Outlook or Windows file manager. This also means that every user must download and install a large application on their computer before they can use Groove, which is fine for people with high-speed and reliable Internet connections. In other words, a user cannot log on to the Internet at a hotel business center computer or an Internet kiosk and access Groove with just an Internet browser.  It tends to work better as an intranet tool for organizations with all their employees in one location.

Features: Groove has a smorgasbord of cool features and tools, including the ability to work offline and out-of-the-box integration with other Microsoft products. Many core features are shared between the platforms (document libraries, calendars, discussions, etc).    In our experience, packing in lots of features comes at the expense of simplicity and usability. Organizations with larger user groups, more user turnover, or less sophisticated users will likely face a challenge to get them to adopt and use groove vs a simpler tool.

Resources: Groove uses a lot of system resources, both in terms of the CPU and the Internet connection. This can really slow things down for many users.

Usability: We're obviously biased but we think the ProjectSpaces interface is a lot simpler for both users and project administrators to understand how to quickly start using a workspace.

Overall: So, as far as the bottom line differences - Groove definitely has more features, and could be great for power users that have good computers and high-speed Internet connections. ProjectSpaces is simpler, with basic features, but we would argue that it's an easier tool for average users to quickly understand and use - this is what we've tried to hang our hat on. And it is probably easier to deploy for short term use by ad hoc groups as needed - it could be difficult to manage/provide assistance to users to help them download and install a Groove application.