As if Microsoft's document formats weren't already bloated enough, you can make them even more bloated by putting them into sharepoint. 

After you add the storage necessary for the data itself, the SQL Server database, the web server, and everything else, even Microsoft says that you'll need at least 300% of what you started with to put your files into Sharepoint.  Those in the know say that it's closer to about 400% -- if you don't store multiple versions or use any of its data protection features.   If you store multiple versions and/or use any of the data protection features, the realistic storage requirement is apparently closer to 700%.

Wow.

Wow.

I take 1 k of text and put it into Word with absolutely no formatting, and it grows to 20k.  Add sharepoint, and that becomes 140k -- a 1400% increase over the original. 

This is all so we can store some text in some files and have searchability against that text.  There's a whole lot of better ways to do this, and they won't be as hard to back up as Sharepoint either.

How about putting the documents into a format that has a better chance of long term use, like XML (or something like it), then having a database that tracks all the text in those files?  You'd accomplish the goal with the software or hardware costs associated with XML. 

Just a thought.  Nobody's probably listening anyway.

:(