CNET Review: Glide Write 1.0 beta August 11, 2006
Posted by Rafe in Apps, Uncategorized.add a comment
Our reviews team put the online word processor Glide Write under the microscope. Final score: A middling 6.3 on our 10-point scale. Youch.
The good: Glide Write 1.0 beta lets you collaborate with other users and set numerous permissions; no maximum file size; exports to Word, PDF, and other file formats; Glide offers a creative suite and a file-sharing environment that lets you manage multimedia content.
The bad: Glide Write beta requires Internet access; demands a credit card for registration; lacks advanced editing features; doesn’t import or export WordPerfect files; has beta testing quirks; Glide system’s learning curve can be steep.
The bottom line: If you want to share files and stream media within a secure social-networking environment, Glide Write 1.0 beta makes a good, go-anywhere word processor, but its rivals are easier to set up for stand-alone writing and editing.
Desktoptwo, a slick suite in a browser August 7, 2006
Posted by Rafe in Apps, Platforms.add a comment
I’m a fan of Web-based applications, like Writely and Zoho Writer. But I’ve yet to be sold on a Web-based desktop like Glide Effortless, Goowy, or YouOS. The latest online desktop to pique my interest, yet confound me a bit when it came time to do the writeup: Desktoptwo, from Sapotek.
Desktoptwo is a Flash-based desktop suite. It’s good-looking and slick, even in its current beta form. For communication it has an email program and an IM application that supports MSN, Google Talk, and Jabber, and for publishing a blogging platform and a Web site editor. There’s also an MP3 player and a file storage system (1GB is free, additional storage will cost you). It also has a browser, which is superfluous since the suite itself runs in a browser (clicking on the browser application just opens another browser window anyway). For productivity, it will launch the OpenOffice word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation manager, although at this point in the beta, the applications are poorly integrated into the main Desktoptwo platform.
This suite has a lot of what the average consumer needs day-to-day. Desktoptwo is free, and much less expensive to operate than a PC with a suite of separately-licensed software. It is also convenient to be able to access your online workspace from any computer.
Still, this suite, and others like it, remains a curiosity for people with access to their own computing equipment. Dedicated applications on a desktop or laptop have more functionality and run more quickly. And when you have your hardware, you always know where your data is.
But for the billions of people without the resources to call a single computer their own, Desktoptwo could a great gift — a decent desktop suite that runs almost anywhere.
Found on e-Hub.
Review: Zoho Writer August 1, 2006
Posted by Rafe in Apps.1 comment so far
From CNET.com:
The good: Zoho Writer beta is free and works in any Web browser; easy-to-learn interface; lets you collaborate with other users; exports to Word, PDF, and other file formats; posts to blogs; tags documents by topic; Zoho offers a complete productivity suite.
The bad: Zoho Writer requires Internet access; lacks advanced editing features; doesn’t import or export WordPerfect files; operational quirks.
The bottom line: If you enjoy steady Internet access, Zoho Writer beta offers intuitive controls and can replace Microsoft Word for basic editing and formatting, if you can tolerate its beta glitches.
