I wasn’t really too familiar with the idea of “Office 2.0” – or, at least, I wasn’t aware that I was. As it turned out, when I went into Google Docs to complete the task for Thing 19, I actually had some documents already in there! It would appear that I have viewed attachments from my Google Mail account in the past, and I have opened them with Google Docs instead of an actual locally-installed piece of software. So seamless is this latest technology that I’ve been using it without even knowing it!
I’m quite happy with Google Docs, and although basic compared to, say, Microsoft Office, it is more than adequate for the kind of documents I would want to access on the move or easily share with others. I didn’t actually know about the sharing function, so that is an extra string to its bow as far as I am concerned. I can certainly see its benefits. With computers and web-based tools using more and more memory, it makes sense to move your everyday software functions into the “cloud” that is the internet. I can imagine if you move around a lot, or don’t actually have your own computer, it would be fantastic to be able to log onto any computer with a live internet connection and not have to worry about what software it has installed. It actually almost makes redundant the relatively hassle-free notion of carrying around a tiny memory stick.
ThinkFreeOffice is quite a bit more advanced and actually resembles Microsoft Office almost exactly (aside from the obvious convenience of not needing to connect to the internet to perform word processing, it almost makes me wonder why you would bother paying to own the software). I had a play with the features for a while and the list goes on and on. There is an extensive range of fonts to chose from, advanced formatting tools, the ability to find text, insert tables, a spellchecker and dictionary, clip art to chose from, even the ability to save in pdf format. Basically I am impressed. I had a go at uploading a pre-existing document that was saved on the desktop and it was a seamless (identical) reproduction. A slight complaint is that I did experience the pre-warned s-l-o-w-i-n-g d-o-w-n as the computer struggled with memory, but it’s a slight niggle. I would definitely use ThinkFreeOffice again, especially if I am away from home. I think I will be more inclined to use Google Docs for most things, as it is handily built into my email account, but this is better for more advanced projects. Thank you 23ThingsOxford for bringing it to my attention!
I’m quite happy with Google Docs, and although basic compared to, say, Microsoft Office, it is more than adequate for the kind of documents I would want to access on the move or easily share with others. I didn’t actually know about the sharing function, so that is an extra string to its bow as far as I am concerned. I can certainly see its benefits. With computers and web-based tools using more and more memory, it makes sense to move your everyday software functions into the “cloud” that is the internet. I can imagine if you move around a lot, or don’t actually have your own computer, it would be fantastic to be able to log onto any computer with a live internet connection and not have to worry about what software it has installed. It actually almost makes redundant the relatively hassle-free notion of carrying around a tiny memory stick.
ThinkFreeOffice is quite a bit more advanced and actually resembles Microsoft Office almost exactly (aside from the obvious convenience of not needing to connect to the internet to perform word processing, it almost makes me wonder why you would bother paying to own the software). I had a play with the features for a while and the list goes on and on. There is an extensive range of fonts to chose from, advanced formatting tools, the ability to find text, insert tables, a spellchecker and dictionary, clip art to chose from, even the ability to save in pdf format. Basically I am impressed. I had a go at uploading a pre-existing document that was saved on the desktop and it was a seamless (identical) reproduction. A slight complaint is that I did experience the pre-warned s-l-o-w-i-n-g d-o-w-n as the computer struggled with memory, but it’s a slight niggle. I would definitely use ThinkFreeOffice again, especially if I am away from home. I think I will be more inclined to use Google Docs for most things, as it is handily built into my email account, but this is better for more advanced projects. Thank you 23ThingsOxford for bringing it to my attention!
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Glad to hear that you found ThinkFree Office useful, it did get really good reviews which I why I included it as a Thing, but I think it was a bit too resource intensive for some PC's...
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