Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Office, Web services
ThinkFree launches office suite for netbooks, mobile internet devices
by Brad Linder Oct 21st 2008
But like most office applications, ThinkFree Office is designed around the assumption that you have have a fairly modern computer with a 1024 x 768 pixel or higher resolution display. Today ThinkFree released a new version designed for netbooks and MIDs, or mobile internet devices, which often have smaller, lower resolution displays.
ThinkFree Mobile has a few features that set it apart from ThinkFree Office. First, it has a simplified start screen for launching applications, opening documents, or syncrhonizing with ThinkFree online. Second, the interface ahs been designed for small screens. When you open an office document, the default interface is a stripped down document viewer without all the toolbars and bells and whistles. In other words, most of what you see on the screen is the document, not the application. If you need to edit the document, just click the edit button and all those extra toolbars will appear.
ThinkFree Mobile is available as a free download, but the software is described as a trial version. You can try to snag a free license by filling out an online survey. But it's not at all clear what exactly a license will get you. I can't find any way to actually purchase a copy of ThinkFree Mobile at the moment, and I don't see a price anywhere.
Like ThinkFree Office, ThinkFree Mobile is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. The Windows version eats up about 110MB of disk space, which is less than OpenOffice.org, but not exactly light weight. If you've got a netbook or MID with a small amount of storage space, you might want to check out open source, cross-platform office applications like AbiWord for word processing or Gnumeric for spreadsheets.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike Harris said 8:39PM on 10-21-2008
No Mac edition -- it's "comming soon" [sic].
Reply
Quikboy said 12:06AM on 10-22-2008
Interesting emulation of the Microsoft Office icons.
Reply
Jash Sayani said 8:16AM on 10-22-2008
Just what I was going to say....
The whole thing looks like MS Office. The Logo, Icons, Background, Window....
Even the "Mobile" font is the same one used in WinMobile 6 start-screen!!!
jfjb said 12:20PM on 10-22-2008
this "article" sounds like a sales pitch, or is it not?
Reply
Brad Linder said 12:22PM on 10-22-2008
I don't know that a sales pitch would take the time to criticize the absence of a clear price for the product or point out alternative applications.
Simplecipher said 6:44PM on 10-22-2008
Anyone know how this compares to OpenOffice? It would be good to see an alternative as far free office software goes. I'll have to check this out.
Reply