Joining Google Docs and the Zoho Suite and ThinkFree Boundless and who knows who else tomorrow is Buzzword from Adobe. Does the world need another online word processor? Doesn't everybody love paying a few hundred extra dollars for Microsoft Office on every new computer? Yes, and no.
Officially still in beta, as is Google Docs for that matter, Buzzword seems like the next generation of online word processor, with a sleek, modern look and some nice touches. Or perhaps I should say “buzzword†since they seem to put it in lower case letters all the time. Since I expected it to be BuzzWord, I guess they surprised me slightly.
There are several handy touches, such as the ability to import documents in the most popular handful of formats (DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, and ODT) and export them in those formats and also PDF. If you use this, you'll never have to pay extra for a PDF file converter again, although Adobe has offered a free PDF online converter for years.
Sharing and collaborating on documents isn't a one-click operation but does work more easily than e-mailing around. You can even set security levels, so some users can see but not edit an existing document.
Performance isn't as fast as your own computer, but it's been reliable and consistent for me. I haven't had the lag time I sometimes have when witing on a Gmail message.
Try it, it 's free. If you like it, great, you have an online word processor with a pretty decent interface.
Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world
jfruh
Apple syncing patent can't come soon enough
pasmith
New Twitter features borrow from 3rd party clients
Esther Schindler
Open Source Changes the Software Acquisition Process
mikelgan
How to set up continuous podcast play on the new iTunes
David Strom
Five important Windows 7 mobility features
sjvn
Guard your Wi-Fi for your own sake
Sandra Henry-Stocker
Grepping on Whole Words
Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325
Join the conversation here
Quick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.
Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.












