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TOOL: Office software on the web

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Here’s a review of Microsoft Office Type Tools from Mike at Versus Nova Blog, in Microsoft Office Live…or Memorex?

First is AjaxWrite which provides “the look, feel, and functionality of Microsoft Word, in a completely web-based AJAX platform”. This is MS Word gone Web2.0! The same folks also have AjaxSketch which is a pared down version of Illustrator or Powerpoint.

The next product is an online MS Visio style application called Gliffy. This application lets you draw items such as:
* FlowCharts
* Workflow documents
* Class Diagrams
* Network Diagrams
* Database schemas
* Website layouts/wireframes
* Floor plans
* Seating charts

So what if you want a fully loaded, MS Office-compatible online application suite?
Check out ThinkFree.

ThinkFree creates MS Word, Excel, (.doc and .xls) compatible files. The files are online, so you can just share them instead of emailing them all around. You can also collaborate and let others make edits to the document, by assigning co-authors (versus readers). ThinkFree also does document versioning with rollback — just in case! It also makes it easy to post these documents to many different blogging engines. And last but not least- you also get 1GB of storage for free! (It’s worth signing up just for that!)

For Office type software not on the web, check into Open Office. I’m using it at the store, and I am reasonably impressed.

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

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