Subscribe

Monthly Tech Tips - Sign Up Here
* indicates required

My Categories

Technology Innovations Page

Technology Innovations, Inc. on Facebook

What I Talk About

2-way sync blackberry blog calendar Chat collaborate collaboration community contacts Digsby Evernote Facebook gmail goog 411 Google google apps Google Calendar Google Docs Google voice inspirational quote iPhone iThemes Jing Jott LinkedIn microsoft Microsoft Security Essentials Microsoft SkyDrive Music outlook Plaxo PowerPoint screen capture security Small Business Live social media Social Networking sync thinkfree Twitter Vista Windows 7 Windows Live word WordPress

Search Here

Archive for thinkfree

Apr
06

OpenOffice.org vs. Google Apps

Posted by: | Comments (0)

images1.jpg

I blogged way last summer about Microsoft Office type replacements (see May & June, 2007 posts). Back then we discussed ThinkFree and Google Apps. Now I have a reason to really look at OpenOffice.org. I just ordered the extremely small and sweet Asus EEE computer and it comes loaded with OpenOffice.org. I’m very happy to be ‘forced’ to use both Linux and OpenOffice software! Now Microsoft still has a place in my life – on my business laptop!

Version 2.4 was released just last week and offers many enhancements to make working in the OpenOffice.org environment more robust and well, more Microsoft-y! You can read the release notes here: Reading through them, it seems that if you are a pretty experienced Office user (as I am), then you may think to yourself, “well, that’s nice that they’ve added a page down feature from within the print preview menu, but I think I’d expect that”. I’m not trying to belittle the enhancements – I’m sure my perspective would be different without my Microsoft background.

Since OpenOffice.org has been around for about 20 years now, there is an extensive and comprehensive help section complete with forums and user manuals. If you’re a group, you can even talk to them about coming to train your people.

Thinking of some differences between Google and Openoffice:

  • Google apps is on-line – Openoffice isn’t. Advantage OpenOffice! (footnote:Google just announced they will have a way for users to download and work on documents offline. Only for docs – not the other apps)
  • There’s a lag time when opening docs on-line vs. on your hard drive. Advantage OpenOffice
  • Google docs are great for uploading and sharing in real time with someone else – not OpenOffice. Advantage Google Apps
  • Google docs are available to you anywhere you have an internet connection. Not so for OpenOffice (unless you have off-site storage)

Suite Features:
OpenOffice Google Apps

Writer Docs

Calc Spreadsheet

Impress Presenter

Draw (drawings, flowcharts, etc.)

Base (database program)

There are so many comparisons that could be made. It comes down to what it is YOU need. If you don’t collaborate, you probably don’t need Google Apps. If you have some old computers around and would like to be able to do some word processing or calculating, OpenOffice.org would be perfect for that. OpenOffice also has a couple more packages than Google. However, neither of them have calendaring/email built right in and all in the same place.

I’ll post more after I get my EEE computer!

Categories : Google, microsoft, office application, Web Tools
Comments (0)
Jun
05

ThinkFree v. Google Apps – Who’s Best?

Posted by: | Comments (0)

So – we’ve looked at ThinkFree and Google Apps. Now we’ll do some comparisons and draw some conclusions.

ThinkFree has the big three applications; document, spreadsheet and presentation. Google does not have a presentation app, but is working on one.

ThinkFree touts being “most compatible” with Microsoft Office. Documents can be opened and saved in their Microsoft formats. Google Apps allows Microsoft documents to be imported and worked on.

Google Apps offers users to collaborate via a chat window while revising documents. I didn’t see this feature in ThinkFree. Both offer ways to share files with groups or individuals with tracking features. ThinkFree has a nifty feature that allows the document creator to send a document via Outlook, eliminating having to look-up e-mail addresses.

ThinkFree is the winner in my analysis. The compatibility with Microsoft elevates its usefulness, but so is the option of having the application on my desktop (for $49), in case I don’t have on-line access all the time. Google Apps doesn’t have the presentation package, which is essential (in my opinion), when you have a small business and need to pull something together.

Web-based office suites are springing up and it is said that desktop applications are on their way out as more and more businesses and people become increasingly comfortable with being on-line and using on-line tools.

A comment came in from Raju Vegesna, regarding another web application site. I would invite you to visit them at www.zoho.com. Free for use are quite a few tools in addition to the office suite including, mail, chat, collaboration tools, a planner and a project management tool.

Another site to check out is openoffice.org. This site is open source and offers the Big Three apps as well as a database, math and drawing program.

Best wishes as you navigate the crowded highways of web based applications!

Categories : Collaboration, office application
Comments (0)
May
24

Let’s Look at Web-based Office Applications

Posted by: | Comments (2)

Being a small business owner, I’ve been exploring the world of on-line collaboration tools, including alternatives to Microsoft Office. We will explore both ThinkFree and Google Docs and Spreadsheet applications and then do a comparison. Today, we will talk about “ThinkFree-The Best On-line Office on Earth”.

http://www.thinkfree.com

ThinkFree, headquartered in San Jose, CA, has developed a suite of office products named: ThinkFree Write, ThinkFree Calc and ThinkFree Show. All three apps are compatible with the Microsoft Office versions of Word, Excel & PowerPoint. Their slogan is: “get the best Microsoft Office compatibility available”. This means any of your office docs can be uploaded into ThinkFree for editing, viewing or sharing. After revisions have been made, the file(s) can then be downloaded to your hard drive. There is an area on the site where users have made their documents public. This could be very helpful if you’re looking for a specialized spreadsheet format or perhaps a slick new PowerPoint background.

ThinkFree provides four ways to use their software:

  1. On-Line -this is their free service which includes:
    • 1 GB storage
    • support of all major desktop Operating Systems
    • live document embedding in blog posts (this looks really cool, but haven’t tried it out yet. Go to http://viewer.thinkfree.com/ to check this out).
    • free collaboration tools for sharing and editing of files. Something really nice here is the option to send the link from your own e-mail client. This is a handy feature in that time is not wasted building a contact database from within ThinkFree.
    • A Premium service should be available in September.
  2. ThinkFree Desktop
    • The downloadable version of the office suite – cost is $49
    • includes the ability to save docs in pdf format
  3. ThinkFree Portable
  4. ThinkFree Enterprise
    • For use with businesses with multiple desktops

Point your browser over to ThinkFree and explore their offerings. A blog is maintained for obtaining the latest on the products.

Categories : Collaboration, computer tips, office application
Comments (2)

I Use and Recommend Hostgator

Recent Comments

RSS Subscribe to my Blog

  • Do Not Track–Web Browser Settings May 18, 2012
    (published 5-18-2012) Privacy is a huge issue on the web. Today, we’ll talk about options you have to opt out of being tracked by advertisers and how to enable this feature on Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. First, you should know that even if you follow these steps to disable tracking, websites still have the […]
  • Microsoft Kills the Windows Live Name-Changes Coming May 11, 2012
    Last week, I wrote about the new improved SkyDrive and was thrilled to see how it integrates with windows explorer. This week, I’ve been hearing and reading about how Microsoft is discarding the Windows Live name and programs in favor of Windows 8 and the Metro Style Apps. So now everyone (or many of us), […]
  • New Outlook Social Connector & Why You Should Use It May 4, 2012
    Many people are using a web-based email, but for those of us who still live and die using Outlook,  (like me), I want to talk about Outlook Social Connector, why I use it and some steps to get, install and what it looks like. 1. I can easily search for email, appointments, attachments and updates […]