Mar 08 2007
Conclusions: Great Web Office Experiment - Part 2
In part 2 of the series, we look at getting started with online documents, spreadsheets and presentation tools. The tools reviewed here offer users great potential for cost savings, collaborating and sharing work with colleagues.
What are these tools and why use them?
The online document writers and sheetsheets reviewed here - Google, ThinkFree and Zoho - are internet services that function as online word processors and spreadsheets. All three feature intuitive user interfaces and commands for formatting text and tables that will be familiar to anyone who has used Word.
The real advantage in using these tools for your work is how well they facilitate working in situations where you need to collaborate on documents - such as a funding bid or strategy document. For example, the tools can notify you when changes are made to a document, maintain a document revision history, and even allow multiple authors to work on the same document simultaneously, and allow authors to annotate the document with comments – all in a single, completely Web-based package.
How do I get started?
As always, the best way to get started is to try the tools out yourself. Since the tools are all free, you need only create an account, log in, and start writing, editing, and sharing. Once you’ve completed these simple steps, how you choose to use the services will vary based on your needs.
I also recommend that when you’re trying out the web office tools, try and think about their potential applications for your own work - particularly if you’re working in partnership with colleagues on a funding bid, strategy document, meeting minutes, etc. Once you are comfortable with how they work, you will likely start to see potential everywhere or how they could be applied for teaching and learning situations.
Why do this?
There some very good reasons to start exploring web office tools:
- Total Cost of Ownership - is very low as it removes the cost of buying Microsoft Office licences. All you need is a computer with a broadband Internet connection and a web browser.
- Extremely easy document sharing and collaboration - just think about how often you’ve worked on a shared document and struggled to figure out the changes made by another author…
- Familiar, intuitive word processor and spreadsheet interfaces
- Availability from any computer with an Internet connection (i.e., no need for local copies, CDs, flash drives, etc.)
- Versioning by saving a history of changes (who and when) that can be
- viewed and compared
- Ability to save local copies if desired
- Ability to import and export documents in various file formats (doc, csv, rtf, txt, html, opd, sxw, pdf)
Disadvantages
Again, looking generally at the range of services overall, you should consider their specific situation or need in light of several features including:
- potential privacy or data security issues due to the fact that documents are
- data stored on the host’s server
- users must be connected to the Internet in order to edit documents
- typical issues with a service that is hosted outside of your organisation - varying levels of technical support, separate accounts
- need to manually invite collaborators to share your documents and spreadhsheets
- file size limitations
- data storage limitations
Comparing web office products
Three online office tools are reviewed here. You can also click the view button for a comparison of ThinkFree, Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Zoho Writer and Sheet. Web Office Comparison Chart
ThinkFree Online Edition:
During testing, ThinkFree Online Edition emerged as my choice of word processor and spreadsheet because of its focus on delivering a tightly integrated set of word processing and spreadhseet tools. This results in ThinkFree Online edition delivering faster editing speeds, handling large and complex documents and being able to work offline - important if you need to work in areas without an Internet connection. It also has a familar user interface that borrows heavily from Word and Excel.
ThinkFree also offers full document tagging, sharing and collaboration through its Doc Exchange (see left), an online area where documents can either be shared publically (like templates) or privately with only other people you’ve invited to share your document with.
I also prefer ThinkFree’s Webtop, which makes it easier to browse uploaded files and perform actions like sharing and tagging.
For power users (see image) needing access to more advanced editing features and quick editing speeds, ThinkFree offers a Power Edit mode which opens up a Java applet on your computer.
Disadvantages: On the downsideThinkFree appears to be the only one not to currently support Open Office file formats (opd, ops, sxw).
Future developments: Another slight downside is ThinkFree’s lack of integration with email, calendar and address book services to form a complete office suite under one banner. However, ThinkFree does seem to be looking at this and we could well see these missing services emerge in ThinkFree during the near future.
Zoho Writer and Zoho Sheet:
Zoho Writer and Sheet is a well supported free online word processor and spreadhseet service . It has a clean, simple interface familiar to users of Word and Excel. Zoho also offers the ability to share and publish documents, and can import and export to a wide range of file formats, including Open Office. Zoho also offers offline working via it plug-in for Microsoft Office.
As with ThinkFree, you can also post directly from Zoho to your blog of choice. Zoho Writer and Zoho Sheet also gives you extra storage capacity by integrating with online storage company Box.net , which offers 1GB of free storage.
Disadvantages: On the downside, many users have noted that whilst it accurately displays simple Word documents imported into Zoho Writer, it tends to slow down and struggle with more complex documents, such as the 47 page ICT Strategy I’m currently writing. In fairness to Zoho, the company acknowledges this and is working on improving its speed.
Future developments: Interestingly, Zoho also has a rapidly expanding suite of free and paid for online office tools such as a web notebook, wiki, project manager, customer relationship management (CRM), and database tools. As a sign of things to come, Zoho will also be partnering with EchoSign - which will allow users to send digitally signed invoices and receipts, a small step towards integrating online commerce with your office documents.
Google Docs & Spreadsheets:
If it’s integration with email, calendar and contacts you’re after - Google Docs & Spreadsheets is the one. Whilst this service has rather basic document formatting options, it makes collaboration and sharing easy through integration with GMail. This probably the choice to make if you want to collborate on rough drafts or outlines without worrying about a polished final look. Google Docs & Spreadheets also supports a wide range of file formats, including Word and Open Office.
Disadvantages: However, Google Docs and Spreadheets has the most basic word processing and spreadhseets functions and the lowest file size capacity of the ‘free’ services reviewed - and is probably not the choice to make if you want to collaborate on large, complex business documents.
What’s next for the web office?
One thing that’s clearly missing from all three services is that staple of office life - the mail-merge of text documents and address book contacts to create letters and labels. This may well change in th near future as all three services look to offer an integrated package of calendar, email, and contacts along with document and spreadsheet editors.
