Another assignment I received from Mr. Birchall was to compile a list of Web 2.0 Office alternatives- Office like services available on the internet. I had made a list last year on my now defunct blog, however, things have changed and Google has made some acquisitions. I did some research on Techcrunch, found the major players to be pretty much the same as last year, and I played around with their services. I had tested gOffice last year, however it now costs $.99 a month, so I had to skip it. This is what I got:
Google Docs and Spreadsheets (soon to arrive Presentations)- To be able to access Google Docs, you have to have either a Gmail account, which no longer require invitations (www.gmail.com) or set up your current email address as a Google account when you go to Google Docs. Once you login, you can make a new document or spreadsheet. A PowerPoint-like slide show creator will be released this summer. The interface isn’t the same as Microsoft Office, but it is fairly easy to figure out. Before writing a document or creating a spreadsheet, you should spend a minute going over what the buttons do so you know how to change the font, or enter a formula in a cell. Another great thing is that you can save in any major format, including .doc (Word) and even the OpenOffice format. In addition, you can share a file between people by entering their email address, and have people editing and making changes to a document at the same time. You can save your documents on the Google servers, and you can also download them to your own computer. If used extensively, it serves as a backup in case your own hard drive fails. Your documents would still be available from any computer with an internet connection, which makes this and the other services great. There are limits to the file size and amount of files, though, here.
Thinkfree- Upon creating an account, you have access to a 1GB webtop, where you can store documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. When you want to create or edit a document, you have a choice of quick or power edit. Quick edit is very basic, but intuitive. Power edit takes some time to load the first time, but the java virtual machine will cache the application so it loads quickly the next time. There is no learning curve for power edit as long as the person has used Microsoft Office. The interface is exactly that of Office 2003. In addition, you can save as .doc and the other basic ones such as .rtf, .pdf, but also the new Office 2007 .docx. Although I tested the free online version, they have versions for servers and software so you can have Thinkfree on your desktop. However, with the desktop, you can run it in Windows, Mac, and also Linux.
Zoho- You choose what you want, Writer, Sheet, or Show when you access the site. When you register, your profile is good for all the services, though. Writer and Sheet are almost as intuitive as their Thinkfree counterparts. Show has a bit of a different interface, but it’s easy to figure out. One cool feature they offer is that you can download the plugin for Office so you can edit your documents online and offline. For some reason, I could not find the file size limits or how much space is allotted. So, I called the toll-free number I saw. I spoke with someone who said he was not part of the Zoho Office suite project, so he transferred me to someone who said the same thing. However, he gave me the number of someone named Ian. I called and asked him the file size limit, which he said there was none, and he said there was a 1GB total limit, although it was not enforced. He also said a paid service for a greater amount was in the works. I just looked him up, and realized he was Ian Wenig, the Director of Business Development.
All of the above services work well, and do pretty much the same thing. However, I felt Zoho and Thinkfree had an interface more similar to Microsoft Office (other than the Thinkfree quick edit option, and Zoho show). In addition, I liked that Zoho had integration with Office, which most people already have. However, Google will be releasing their presentation service, so I will be reviewing that when it comes out.
