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17 Web Based Competitors to MS Office

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the wildly-flailing-for-vc dept.

prostoalex writes "Red Herring magazine takes a look at 17 projects in the Web 2.0 space competing with Microsoft Office for the attention of the office workers worldwide. The table lists Thinkfree, Zoho Writer, Writeboard, Google Writely, Rallypoint and JotSpot Live as Microsoft Word competitors, JotSpot Tracker, Numsum, iRows, Zoho Street as Microsoft Excel alternatives, S5, Zoho Show as PowerPoint contenders, ThinkFree, gOffice and Zoho Virtual Office as suite offerings. Even Microsoft Project has its fair share of Web 2.0 competitors: Basecamp and JotSpot Project Manager made the list."

6 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. They missed... by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 4, Informative

    Google Spreadsheets

  2. OOo at home and on the run by Lord+Fury · · Score: 3, Informative

    When I'm at home, OpenOffice does everything I need. When I'm anywhere else, I always use Portable OpenOffice from my flash drive.

  3. Re:Don't you think...? by WED+Fan · · Score: 2, Informative

    In Italy, "Andrea" is typically a man's name. But, in this day and age, you can have your own strokes.

    --
    Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
  4. Re:I know that folks here are going to dis this st by dunng808 · · Score: 2, Informative

    LaTeX is hardly minor formatting. It is unsurpassed in creating good-looking printed output that must conform to a specific layout. Academic articles, books, screenplays, term papers. It is equally good at creating PDF files, the point being that these are virtual paper pages.

    People who are already handy with LaTeX can use it to do just about anything with it, but I would make the same observation about PowerPoint users.

    LaTeX is not an editor. When I work with LaTeX I actually use Lyx, a GUI editor designed to output LaTeX documents. Orders of magnitude easier than working with raw LaTeX.

    To see "minor" applied to LaTeX is like describing the Mississippi river as a minor waterway.

    --

    Gary Dunn
    Open Slate Project

  5. How to advocate free software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    twitter, please read this carefully. Following this advice will make Slashdot a better place for everyone, including yourself.

    • As a representative of the Linux community, participate in mailing list and newsgroup discussions in a professional manner. Refrain from name-calling and use of vulgar language. Consider yourself a member of a virtual corporation with Mr. Torvalds as your Chief Executive Officer. Your words will either enhance or degrade the image the reader has of the Linux community.
    • Avoid hyperbole and unsubstantiated claims at all costs. It's unprofessional and will result in unproductive discussions.
    • A thoughtful, well-reasoned response to a posting will not only provide insight for your readers, but will also increase their respect for your knowledge and abilities.
    • Don't bite if offered flame-bait. Too many threads degenerate into a "My O/S is better than your O/S" argument. Let's accurately describe the capabilities of Linux and leave it at that.
    • Always remember that if you insult or are disrespectful to someone, their negative experience may be shared with many others. If you do offend someone, please try to make amends.
    • Focus on what Linux has to offer. There is no need to bash the competition. Linux is a good, solid product that stands on its own.
    • Respect the use of other operating systems. While Linux is a wonderful platform, it does not meet everyone's needs.
    • Refer to another product by its proper name. There's nothing to be gained by attempting to ridicule a company or its products by using "creative spelling". If we expect respect for Linux, we must respect other products.
    • Give credit where credit is due. Linux is just the kernel. Without the efforts of people involved with the GNU project , MIT, Berkeley and others too numerous to mention, the Linux kernel would not be very useful to most people.
    • Don't insist that Linux is the only answer for a particular application. Just as the Linux community cherishes the freedom that Linux provides them, Linux only solutions would deprive others of their freedom.
    • There will be cases where Linux is not the answer. Be the first to recognize this and offer another solution.

    From http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/docs/HOWTO/Advoca cy

  6. Re:SSH tunnel + VNC + OO.org by Eivind · · Score: 2, Informative
    Normal users don't set up and configure online wordprocessors. They only use them.

    What is so hard about the following:

    • Insert usb-thumb.
    • Double-click the icon that appears on the desktop.
    • Double-click the "Word-processor" icon.
    • Enter your password when prompted.

    That's not really harder than say with writely:

    • Start a web-browser.
    • Type in the adress of writely (or google it if you forgot)
    • Type in your username
    • Type in your password

    Both procedures should be within the capabilities of most normal computer-users.