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office-live-workspace posts

Filed under: Business, Internet, Office, Web services

Zoho: on a roll and not looking back

zoho docsAs usual, TechCrunch makes a good point about Zoho calling their offerings "still a bit all over the place." But the fact that Zoho now has over one million users and just launched Zoho Docs bodes well for the company (and the still-nascent online business suite business at large). Zoho Docs integrates Writer, Sheet and Show, allows some version controls, more organization features and access control lists. That's a powerful set of glue tying some already-useful apps together. Now we'll have to see if they continue to grow beyond their core users and make real traction in the business space. With Office Live Workspace and Google Docs + Chrome powerhouses coming on strong in Q4, it'll be one heck of a battle.

Previous coverage of Zoho:
And here's how you can log in to Zoho with your Google Apps account.

Filed under: Internet, News, Productivity, Microsoft, Social Software

Office Live Workspace to be out by year-end

According to ZDNet, Microsoft plans to release the final version of Office Live Workspace by the end of 2008. The Google Docs competitor, which was launched as a beta in December of 2007, has been downloaded by over a million users.

Office Live Workspace is NOT a web-based version of Office. Instead, it is something of an Office-add-on (though you can use it on a computer that does not have Office installed). You can upload Office documents (Word, Excel and Powerpoint files) to Office Live Workspace and then access them from another computer (so it is a virtual flash drive of sorts) or grant permission for other users to access your documents. They can then edit and upload versions and share new documents with you.

Live documents cannot be edited directly in OLW, though you can create "web notes" which are similar to Google Docs documents and spreadsheets or "web lists" -- that as of right now don't do calculations. You can also comment on an Office file, so even if you don't have access to Word to immediately edit a document, you can comment on what changes need to be made.

I have an Office Live Workspace account, but I have to admit, it has received little use. It isn't so much that Google Docs is that much better -- the spreadsheet and forms options are, the word processing is about the same -- it is just more ubiquitous and has become a more streamlined part of my workflow.

If you have a Windows Live ID (nee Passport), you can use that to sign-up or sing into the Office Live Workspace beta. It is aimed at Windows users, but works fine on a Mac running Safari (and works with Mac formatted Office documents).

Filed under: Weekend Review

Download Squad Week in Review

Download Squad logoBeen spending the week gearing up for SXSW and then realized that you forgot to book tickets to Austin? Worry not, Download Squad will be bringing you blow by blow coverage from SXSW Interactive over the next few days. In the meantime, sit back, relax, and check out some of the top stories from the week that was.

Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 8 beta

Microsoft released the first beta version of IE8 this week, and while it's explicitly for developers and not early adopters, we rushed out to test it, and were severely disappointed with its performance. Sure, it renders the Acid2 test properly -- sometimes, but it does a pretty poor job with many other sites, including Download Squad. And many of you told us you were having even bigger problems. Check out the IE8 reviews and comments left by Download Squad readers.

Microsoft launches Office Live Workspace beta


IE8 wasn't the only Microsoft beta to launch this week. The company also pushed the first public version of Office Live Workspace out the door. And while the service does provide users with a way to store and share Office documents online, we can't help but wonder whether people who have gotten used to actually being able to create and edit documents online with services like Zoho and Google Docs are going to care.

Read more →

Filed under: OS Updates, Web services, Google, Microsoft

First peek at Microsoft Office Live Workspace

Office Live Workspace
Microsoft has released a few screenshots of its upcoming Office Live Workspace. And we have to say, it looks about as much like desktop software as any web-based app we've seen. Which is a good thing, since it's meant to work with the desktop version of Microsoft Office.

But while Office Live Workspace certainly looks a lot prettier than Google Docs & Spreadsheets, the two services might be addressing different markets. That's because Google Docs is a standalone suite of Office applications allowing you to create text/HTML documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. You can also import and export files compatible with Microsoft Office.

Office Live Workspace, on the other hand, is a way to share and collaborate on files created using Microsoft's commercial desktop application. Look, we're not saying Microsoft has to give everything away for free just because Google's doing it. If you've got superior applications, go ahead and charge a premium. But we'd like see Microsoft offer the ability to create and edit documents online without first purchasing MS Office. We might even consider paying a small subscription fee for access to such a service.

Filed under: Internet, Office, Microsoft

Microsoft Office Live Workspace: This is Microsoft's online office strategy?

Office Live Workspace
As we've pointed out time and again, online office suites like Google Docs and Zoho are not complete Microsoft Office replacements. They don't have all the features, but they also don't have the high price. And for many users, not only are online office suites cheaper (as in free), but they offer up a few extra useful features like the ability to share documents with anyone over the internet.

We've been expecting Microsoft to respond with an online office suite of its own, perhaps built on MS Works. But now that Microsoft has announced its online office strategy, we have to say we're a bit underwhelmed.

Office Live Workspace is a free web-based feature that lets Microsoft Office users share their documents online. In other words, you'll need to pay for Microsoft Office and use it to create documents on your desktop, but you can share them online. With Google Docs, you can hop onto any web browser to pull up all your documents and/or create new text, HTML, spreadsheet, or presentation documents. Office Live Workspace just lets you access files you've already created. In other words, it's more of a Scribd/Docstoc competitor than a Zoho/ThinkFree competitor.

If you want to sign up for the Office Live Workspace beta, Microsoft is accepting applications. The beta itself probably won't start for another month.

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So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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