You can use our powerful flash based viewer Uni-Paper in your service.

Revamped ThinFree Online Service : ThinkFree Office Live
Now, Internet is Office !

Ignition Sequence Start ! : ThinkFree Office Live Launching on 31th, March

 
ThinkFree Office Live Staffs in ThinkFree (before 2-days for launching, Sleepy Holiday  ^^;)

 
ThinkFree Office Product collage


New era of Web Productivity Suite 2009 !

Google Docs suffers privacy glitch



 
by Stephen Shankland

source : http://news.cnet.com/google-docs-suffers-privacy-glitch/?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

Google discovered a privacy glitch that inappropriately shared access to a small fraction of word-processing and presentation documents stored on the company's online Google Docs service. "We've identified and fixed a bug which may have caused you to share some of your documents without your knowledge. This inadvertent sharing was limited to people with whom you, or a collaborator with sharing rights, had previously shared a document," the company said in a note, quoted at TechCrunch, that the search giant sent to affected people. "The issue only occurred if you, or a collaborator with sharing rights, selected multiple documents and presentations from the documents list and changed the sharing permissions. This issue affected documents and presentations, but not spreadsheets."

Google said in a later statement that the problem affected only 0.05 percent of documents stored at the site and that affected Google Docs users had been notified.

Though the documents were shared only with people whom the Google Docs users had already shared documents, rather than with the world at large, the problem illustrates one downside of cloud computing, in which Internet servers host software previously run on a person's own computer. The flip side of a cloud-computing advantage, that a person can get access to those documents from any Internet-connected computer or smartphone, is that technical problems or hacking attempts also can expose private information.

It should be noted, though, that housing data on a local machine has risks of its own. A lost or stolen laptop can reveal any number of secrets, as Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, the National Institutes of Health, and others have found.

But in ThinkFree Office Live


  

In the cloud computing environment, Security and Privacy are getting more important.
As millions of consumers begin to take advantage of cloud computing it’s apparent that major concerns including security and privacy are top of mind.

Finally, ThinkFree.com has been approved officially by eTrust for the Privacy policy.
ThinkFree is ensuring the privacy of millions users and documents that sit on cloud as followings.

Information Collection and Use
ThinkFree informs the users of our site if we are collecting information directly from their electronic systems by means such as IP addresses and Cookies.

ThinkFree lets them know why you are collecting information from them. In most cases this is to customize the advertising and content seen.

Information Sharing and Disclosure
ThinkFree informs the users whether or not we sell or rent their personally identifiable information to anyone.

Security
ThinkFree.com ensure the sensitive and account information on our site password-protected for the privacy and security of our users.
 

From Service and Marketing manager Benedict at ThinkFree

The Hybrid Netbook Experience, Revisited

 
Posted by Serdar Yegulalp, Mar 11, 2009 01:34 PM
source : http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/03/the_hybrid_netb.html

Yes, Hypersapce of Phoenix can change the old rule and  break the rigid current OS ecosystem which is dependent on MS.
Maybe, New ecosystem will open  faster than your thought -Benedict

No, I don't mean a computer powered by solar panels or fuel cells (although those aren't terribly absurd assertions either). Rather, there's a growing sense that netbooks -- and notebooks generally -- won't just be running Linux or Windows, but a mix of the two.  But this doesn't look like proof that Windows is on the skids.

I've recently been looking at notebooks that use the Linux-powered Hyperspace "side-boot" system -- a parallel OS rather than a complete replacement for Windows. The tiny OS contains most everything you need to get work done quickly: a network access module, web browser, messaging and VOIP clients -- and now, word processing and spreadsheet software courtesy of the ThinkFree suite. The whole thing boots in mere seconds; it's comparable to the boot speed of environments like Moblin, maybe even better. Plus, the more upscale version of Hyperspace loads Windows in parallel, so you can switch into or back out of it once it's fully loaded.

What's struck me most after using Hyperspace for a bit is whether or not the ultimate aim of the product is wide of the mark. If the point is to give people instant-on access to common productivity tools, Windows can already do this in the form of suspend/resume -- although, I guess, the fact that you can access Hyperspace in seconds from a cold boot is a further power-savings gesture. Especially since on some machines Windows can take just as long to come up out of hibernation as it does to boot cold.

I've mused before about the possibility that Hyperspace would provide an incremental wedge via which people get more and more workaday exposure to Linux. I'm thinking now that's not really the point, either. It's not about how much Linux people get to use, but how good their computing experiences are overall, with Linux being one of the more flexible ways to bring that to people. If people find Hyperspace more genuinely useful than a full boot to Windows (something I'm also willing to debate freely), it won't matter what's used to put it together.

Finally, I suspect that Hyperspace is likely to get its most direct competition not from Windows but from other open-source projects -- the aforementioned Moblin, for instance, which holds at least as much potential as Hyperspace. Windows's greatest competition has long been with itself -- and it looks like Linux may end up following the same pattern.

Have you ever imagine using the web office in your company with centralized documentation management and
secured knowledge sharing ?  

That is ThinkFree office server for on-premise.


 

Best Microsoft® Office Compatibility

Where can it be used?

Prevents frequent formatting of publicly available PCs that are vulnerable to abuse, virus or spyware.
- Public Library, Airport, Information Center, School, Hotel, Bookstore

Allows quick edit or view of documents using cost alternative online office application features.
- Field offices, SMB or organizations that do not require heavy use of advance office features.

100 Free, Time-Saving Apps for Web Writers

Posted by Kelly Sonora (Thanks for sending me the valuable post)

source : http://www.an-online-degree-by-distance-learning.com/blog/2009/02/100-free-time-saving-apps-for-web-writers/

Yes, We are in the List, hehe !(^^;) : Benedict

Whether you spend your day writing on the web as a career or if it’s just a hobby in your spare time, chances are good that you are always looking for ways to save time and money. The following apps are sure to help you on both accounts. The list below offers suggestions for text editors, apps that focus specifically on writing and note taking, apps for web development, apps that will boost your productivity, connect you with clients, organize your ideas and projects, and even help you if you are a freelancer.

Text Editors

Text editors are a favorite of many web writers and all of the following offer plenty of great features and are absolutely free.

Writing and Notetaking Apps

If you need a place to keep all your notes and ideas together or you need a bigger place for entire projects, the following apps are sure to provide what you seek.

8. Zoho Notebook. With capabilities for integrating audio, video, HTML, URLs, files, and much more, you will love what you can do with Zoho Notebook. Tools include line, text, freehand, and shapes.
9. Evernote. This popular note-taking app is an excellent way to keep track of your ideas and allows you to type in text, take a photo with your phone, and grab information from the Internet.
10. Google Notebook. Google’s web-based document app also has access to Google searches, Google Bookmarks, a rich-text editor, and labels.
11. WebAsyst Notes. Create notes and then organize them in folders, share with clients, or access other services such as photo storage, manage projects, and more.
12. UberNote. UberNote allows you to email or IM notes and bookmark and also allows access from your desktop or your mobile phone.
13. Jott. Call a number to leave yourself a note, add an appointment to your calendar, and even have your voice mail transcribed with this simple alternative to writing down notes.
14. FruitNotes. This online notebook offers plenty of useful features including leaving voice notes from your phone, uploading photos and videos, and online sharing.
15. Wridea. Write down what you need to remember with this app, then edit, categorize, and even share your notes with others.
16. Notefish. An excellent way to save examples of promising websites, use this app to save web content, then organize and share your notes as you like.
17. Notezz!. Keep all your notes in one place without any complicated features with this simple note-taking app.

Web Development Apps

If creating websites is part of your web writing, then you will love these apps that help you get sites created quickly and easily, manipulate images, find free photos, and more without needing a technical background.

18. KompoZer. This WYSIWYG alternative to Dreamweaver allows you to easily design websites without knowing HTML.
19. pForm. Create an HTML form quickly and easily with this app.
20. WebGraphicsMaker. Easily create backgrounds, lines, and bullets for your websites with this app.
21. Gimp. Try using this image manipulation software as a free replacement for Photoshop. It has layers, channels, paths, and plenty of painting tools.
22. Picnik. Edit photos and get creative with all the tools available on this free app that works right in your browser.
23. Splashup. Edit and manage your photos with this free browser-based app that is modeled after Photoshop.
24. morgueFile. Get free stock photography here to use on your websites.
25. Website Grader. Plug in the URL of the site you are developing to this tool to get an SEO report grading marketability and more and even find out how the site matches up to its competitors.
26. FreeZip. Compress or decompress those large files with this free app.
27. AnyClient. This file transfer app is free and supports most major transfer protocols.
28. ValidChecker. This app checks the validation of your HTML, RSS, and CSS and sends the results to you via email or RSS feed.

Firefox Apps for Web Development

Here are even more web development apps, this time for those who use Firefox.

29. Server Switcher. Go between the site you are working on to a live one easily with this app.
30. Firebug. Get tons of development tools that allow you to "edit, debug, monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live."
31. Pixel Perfect. Use this with Firebug to overlay your composition over HTML to discover how many pixels you may be off.
32. ColorZilla. This app allows you to use an eye dropper to grab color from anywhere in your browser, then open a palette, and more.
33. MeasureIt. Use this app to get the pixel height and width of any element on a web page.
34. Web Developer. Add a toolbar and menu with this app that gives you access to several tools including ones that allow you to view and edit CSS.
35. Font Finder. Select text and immediately get all the CSS styles for that font.
36. CSS Sync. Use this app to automatically sync CSS from your server.
37. CSS Refresh. Refresh your CSS without reloading the entire page with this app.
38. SenSEO. This app analyzes your web pages and lets you know how well you are meeting SEO criteria.

Productivity

Take advantage of these great apps to boost your productivity including to-do lists, calendars, reminders, sticky notes, bookmarkers, and RSS readers.

39. HiTask. This free, web-based task management app allows easy scheduling, organizing, and sharing of tasks.
40. bitBomb. Get text message reminders of tasks you need to complete with this app.
41. orangoo. It’s unprofessional to have spelling errors in your finished product. Ensure this doesn’t happen to you by pasting your text into this site or give it a URL for a blog or website and find any spelling errors immediately.
42. Remember the Milk. This popular to-do list keeps your tasks organized, reminds you of important due dates, integrates into Google Calendar, and also works on your iPhone.
43. Toodledo. Not only can you keep important lists here, but Toodledo offers a feature that analyzes your dates, priorities, and time estimates to create an efficient time-management schedule for you.
44. HassleMe. Get email reminders for anything you can’t afford to forget with this app.
45. My 50. This tool will help you keep focused on where you are going by managing your list of goals.
46. Google Calendar. This popular calendar allows you to track events, set reminders, share with others, and even easily import appointments straight from your Gmail.
47. Jotlet. If you want a simple online calendar, Jotlet will keep you organized and even allow you to share with friends or colleagues.
48. Joe’s Goals. This simple chart allows you to input your tasks and check them off as you complete them.
49. Wired-Marker. Permanently highlight sections of websites so that each time you visit that site you know exactly to which section you want to refer. Your selection is automatically bookmarked for easy reference.
50. Stickies. Create virtual sticky notes stay on your computer desktop until you remove them, but unlike the real thing, these can be iconified, remind you of tasks, and even emailed.
51. Jotcloud. Similar to Stickies, but with fewer functions, you can keep your notes on virtual stickies with this app.
52. PinNotes. Another sticky note app, this one also allows for adding pictures, time and date, and more.
53. TelePixie. Get wake-up calls, reminders, alerts, and more on your mobile phone with this app.
54. Del.icio.us. This popular bookmarking site allows you to save favorite sites, add notes to yourself, and share with others.
55. Digg. Bookmark your favorite sites or read user votes and comments about sites.
56. Google Reader. Get all your blogs in one place where you can organize them by categories, mark favorites, and share with other Google Reader users.
57. Bloglines. Bloglines was one of the first readers available and offers easy-to-read blog posts from your list of subscriptions.

Mind Mapping

Writers love to have ways of organizing and managing their thoughts and ideas, so take advantage of these free mind mapping apps that you can use on your own or share with others.

58. bubble.us. Brainstorm with this simple online app that creates bubbles to connect your ideas.
59. FreeMind. This mind-mapping software helps you keep track of projects, organize research, brainstorm, or just keep up with ideas.
60. WiseMapping. Create free mind maps with this tool that you can share with others.
61. Cmap Tools. Create concept maps with this mind mapping app.
62. Kayuda. Whether you want to record your own thoughts or are collaborating with others, Kayuda helps you get everything together.
63. Mindomo. This web-based mind mapping tool will help you keep your thoughts and ideas organized.
64. Mapul. Create organic-looking mind maps with this easy-to-use app.
65. View Your Mind. This mind mapping tool allows you to illustrate your thoughts through maps that are easily manipulated.
66. Gliffy. Create flowcharts for a project or use this tool to help organize your ideas and the necessary steps to complete your projects.

Communication

From email to IM to phone to faxing, these apps will help keep you communicating with those whom you work.

67. Gmail. Gmail is popular for a reason. Emails are easy to organize, archived mail is searched with no problems, labels and stars keep important mail identifiable, has excellent spam control, and is seamlessly integrated with Google Calendar and iGoogle.
68. Yahoo! Mail. If you aren’t a fan of Google, give Yahoo! Mail a try as another web-based email account that is also free.
69. 10 Minute Mail. Use this app to get a disposable email address that is good for 10 minutes, then expires. This is a great way to register with sites that require an email validation without getting their spam.
70. FaxZero. If you only need to send a fax or two a day and they are three pages or less, this app lets you do it for free.
71. Faxaway. While technically this isn’t free, you can send and receive faxes via your email for only $1 per month–that’s almost free.
72. FreeFAX. Send faxes for free here or become a member and receive faxes as well.
73. GrandCentral. Consolidate all your phones with this app that gives you one voice mailbox and one number for all your phones.
74. flurry. This app for your mobile phone will send emails, allow you to read RSS feeds, and participate in group messaging.
75. Mobyko. Back up the names, numbers, and information from your mobile phone with this app so if something happens to your phone, you won’t lose your information.
76. Pidgin. If you communicate on IM, download this tool so you can connect with anyone on 16 different IM providers.
77. Trillian. Combine your IM accounts from Yahoo!, MSN, AIM, ICQ, and IRC into one place with this free app.

Collaborating with Clients and Colleagues

Working on a project with others is much easier and will save you time with these apps.

78. Diigo. A great way to find out what your client may be wanting, use this app to highlight passages on web pages, add sticky notes, and share with clients.
79. Backpack. Backpack allows for easy collaboration with both clients and colleagues with features such as shared to-do lists, announcements, calendars, files, and even centralized discussions.
80. Springnote. This note-taking and collaboration tool allows you to take notes for yourself or work with others to create a group notebook.
81. Writeboard. Create shareable online text documents to keep ideas and progress notes between yourself and colleagues or clients.
82. WebNotes. With this app, attach notes to web pages, create notes in folders, and share your notes with others.
83. 30 Boxes. This easy-to-use online calendar keeps you organized and its sharing feature is a great way to share timelines with clients.
84. Thinkature. Collaborate, organize your thoughts and research, and prepare your project together with this tool.
85. Thinkfree. The free services with this app include document creation and sharing, file access and sharing, collaboration, blogging, and iPhone access.
86. LooseStitch. Create outlines, share with others, and keep your changes together with this app that helps facilitate brainstorming and collaboration.
87. writewith. Great for collaborative writing projects, this app keeps everyone together with features such as shared documents and tasks and discussions.

Freelancing Apps

Freelance writers will surely find helpful options with these apps that offer places for online resumes, ways to manage and invoice clients, task managers, money managers, and more.

88. Emurse. Create, store, and share your resume with this free service that also allows printing in a variety of formats.
89. FreshBooks. If you only need to invoice a few clients, use FreshBooks for free, professional invoices online. Bigger packages are available for a fee.
90. Zoho Invoice. Manage invoices, quotes, and customer payments online with ease using this app.
91. SlimTimer. Freelancers working from home will appreciate this tool that tracks your hours, create tasks, and run reports for free.
92. Toggl. This time management tool also creates invoices, offers desktop widgets, and an iGoogle gadget.
93. Tasks Jr.. This web-based task manager allows you to organize and prioritize your personal and professional projects.
94. Tabber. Manage your contacts with Tabber, where you can combine all your online accounts and contacts.
95. Plaxo. This web-based service helps you stay in touch with your clients and contacts as well as keep them organized.
96. LinkedIn. Network, find contacts, and give your web identity a home with this popular social networking site for professionals.
97. mint. Manage your money with this free app that connects your bank, credit cards, and mutual funds so you can effortlessly gain control over your finances.
98. wesabe. This free app helps you track spending and create goals towards saving money or getting out of debt.
99. BillMonk. Keep track of your money with this app that also tracks items you’ve loaned to people or that you have borrowed.
100. Agrata. Never worry about forgetting a password again with this encrypted tool that securely stores all your passwords so that you don’t have to remember them.

 


Source : http://blog.laptopmag.com/hands-on-with-hyperspace-office-phoenixs-new-productivity-suite

Earlier this week, Phoenix sent us a ThinkPad T400 with a pre-release build of HyperSpace Hybrid that had HyperSpace Office installed. If you’re familiar with HyperSpace, you will recall that HyperSpace Hybrid is the flavor of the OS which runs concurrently with Windows, while HyperSpace Dual provides the same functionality but dual boots with Windows instead. If you’re unfamiliar with HyperSpace, check out our original HyperSpace hands-on.

The new office apps will be available in both Hybrid and Dual flavors of HyperSpace, but we had a chance specifically to test them in Hybrid, which gave us an excellent chance to work with the same documents on both platforms. Check out our first impressions and hands-on video below.

Compatibility

Phoenix makes no secret of HyperSpace Office’s origins as the splash screen for HyperSpace Write, HyperSpace Calc, and HyperSpace Show all say “powered by ThinkFree,” which indicates that this is a port of ThinkFree Office.  The good news is that ThinkFree has created a really strong Microsoft Office-like UI that reminds us of Office 2003, though it is capable of read or writing to several file formats, including the notoriously-difficult-to-open Office 2007 formats. The familiar menus and icons offer a host of typical word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation functionality, though not everything you would find in the latest versions of MS Office.

Window Management and Multitasking

In previous versions of HyperSpace, there was only one real application, the HyperSpace Browser. Now that you have the possibility of opening several different applications at once, the lack of a taskbar or dock becomes all the more apparent. The icons and buttons on the left side of the screen serve only as shortcuts to launch apps, not a way to navigate between open windows. The inability to drag or resize most windows (the browser window can be resized a bit) or to drag/resize the application bar also makes things a little less-than-convenient. Still, if you have multiple documents open in Write, Calc, or Show, they will appear as tabs at the top of the active window. But if you want to switch between HyperSpace Office and another application like HyperSpace Browser, you’ll need to either hit Alt+Tab or close the top app. We hope to see this improve in future builds.

File Management

You can save any documents you create or edit to a special My Documents folder on the HyperSpace partition. A folder icon on the application bar lets you browse through this My Documents folder and even create subfolders underneath it. Unfortunately, there is no way to  browse HyperSpace’s My Documents folder when you’re in Windows or browse any part of the Windows hard drive when you’re in HyperSpace.

Sharing Files with Windows

Fortunately, at least in the Hybrid version of HyperSpace, there is a way to move documents from HyperSpace over to Windows. The recommended way to move a file you last edited in HyperSpace Office to Windows is to open the HyperSpace My Documents folder, right click on the document you wish to open, select Open With from the right click menu, and then select Open with Windows from the dialog box which appears. You are then transported to Windows, Microsoft Office is opened, and the document you selected is opened in its appropriate Microsoft Office Application. We did not have a chance to see what happens if you don’t have Office 2007 installed on your Windows partition or if you use OpenOffice.org for Windows instead.

Unfortunately, there is no way to move a document you last edited in Windows over to HyperSpace, short of e-mailing it to yourself and checking your Web-based e-mail in HyperSpace browser. Phoenix tells us that they are working on a better way to share files between Windows and HyperSpace.

All three HyperSpace Office applications have a print option on their File menus. On our test unit, this feature just did not work and returned the error message: “There is not available print service. You must install printer first.”  But there also was no option to add a new printer.  When we asked, Phoenix told us that “HyperSpace Hybrid allows you to print documents via Windows Vista.  In future releases we will be supporting local printing that will allow applications to print document directly from HyperSpace without going to windows.”  But the only way we could figure out how to print a HyperSpace Office document from within Vista was to use the method we outlined above to transfer our documents to Microsoft Office.

Early Verdict

Adding an Office Suite is a bold move for an instant-on operating system and something that Splashtop, HyperSpace’s main competitor, has not done. However, we’re really looking forward to a future build where you can easily print from within HyperSpace. where you can seamlessly share files with Windows, and where it’s easy to move and resize windows. The platform still lacks a built-in media player, an e-mail client, Skype, and a photo viewer though we hope to see those in the future.

Check out our hands-on video.

Campus Check: How to Effectively Collaborate on Group Work Assignments in an Online World
interviewed by Hoffman agency


Do you know ThinkFree Workspace for collaborative documentation ? : http://www.thinkfree.com

About how many group work assignments are there per class per semester?

Susan, a Communications major :  Hmm, I think it really depends on the professor. We have some that are pushing group work pretty strongly and some that use it more for non-graded in-class discussions. However, across the board I would say that there are typically at least 2-3 group work assignments per class per semester. This definitely has picked up a lot from when I started as freshman and my older sister says she was maybe faced with this twice in her 4 years of colleague!! So I'd definitely have to say there is a push towards more group work. While I prefer working on assignments on my own, I do acknowledge the importance of getting my feet wet with this.

So how big are the assigned work groups usually and how do you work together?

Michael, an Engineering major : Yeah, group work is almost always assigned and you rarely get to pick your team. I guess that's kind of the purpose anyways, to make you deal with all kinds of people, attitudes and work ethics. Well, what works most of the time is a big face-to-face kickoff meeting where the workload gets spliced and diced in equal shares and then off everyone goes.

How do you get all these pieces together in the end then?

Ryan, a Journalism major : That's what causes the most headaches usually. People that get stuff in late, people that deliver poor work or people that just went off the brief. What really helps here though is to work on a common platform like ThinkFree Online. Thanks so much for introducing me to this!! Totally takes out the hassle of having to merge way too large Word docs in the end with laptops crashing and stuff being lost. With ThinkFree, everyone can just log on, lock the file and make their edits as they progress with their sections in realtime. The bonus here is clearly that everyone sees as stuff comes together. This acts as encouragement as well as enables the team to spot early on should there be a lazy one not getting their stuff done. Another thing, I really like is the notification everyone gets on who has just updated what. This way the team's work flow doesn't get jammed and it's so much more fluid, really efficient moving things along.

5 Ways to Collaborate on Documents Online in Real Time

source : http://mashable.com/2009/02/21/online-document-collaboration/

 

We thank you for your appreciation and deep perception : Benedict at ThinkFree.

Collaborating with others online has never been easier. There are a number of options for everything from sharing images and video to presentations, tasks and more. Here we’ll focus on collaborating on documents in real time, an area that’s improved quite a bit, but still has a way to go. Of these five options, some services require you to create documents online while others allow you to create them off. There isn’t one clear cut winner in the bunch, it all depends on your situation, your needs and where you want to keep your files. Have a real time online document collaboration tool to recommend? Tell us more about it in the comments.

1. EtherPad

EtherPad offers real-time editing and collaboration of plain text documents. It includes a mini chat room and shows each user’s edits with their own color in real time. Also nice is the ability to save and restore revisions.

The interface is a little barebones and too many common features we’ve grown accustomed to in office suites are missing but this is a good solution for basic brainstorming sessions for groups of people in real time.

There are some major negatives: First, you can’t store any documents online as you can with other solutions and you have to track each and every cryptic URL. Additionally, there’s no clean and easy way to export finished documents and you also can’t import or open Microsoft Office documents like the other options can.

Here’s a video demo of Etherpad in action.

2. Google Docs

Google Docs offers all three office apps for creating documents, spreadsheets and presentations. They also offer good sharing features which means you can collaborate with others in real-time at the same time on the same documents.

There’s also an option to post the document to a blog or website and have any changes updated automatically by itself. This makes it sort of like a wiki and a blog publishing platform. A downside to Google Docs is that you can’t chat with others inside Google Docs, but then again, you can always use Gtalk.

3. Zoho

Like Google Docs, Zoho offers a suite of apps to create online documents, spreadsheets and presentations (plus databases), but their sharing features are much better. Not only can you invite others to view or edit documents, but you can create groups to make them easier to manage.

Additionally, like Google Docs you can publish any doc to your blog or website, but it also adds a new feature that Google doesn’t offer which is the ability to make any document public. Zoho provides a unique URL and RSS feed for every public document which is updated automatically whenever a change is made.

You can also chat live with collaborators by using a tab on the left that shows all collaborators, making it easy to communicate while editing a document together in real time. And, if you need to go back and check older versions of the document you can.

4. Microsoft Office Live

Microsoft Office Live allows existing owners of Microsoft Office to share and collaborate with other Office owners by using their Microsoft Office Online account. It’s important to note that this service is not free and if you do not have Office installed on your computer then you’re out of luck.

In order to make this a truly useful solution, Microsoft will need to provide a true web version of their apps in the cloud. However, if you just want to share Microsoft Office documents with colleagues that have Office then this could be a viable option.

5. ThinkFree

ThinkFree provides a slick suite of online apps like Zoho and Google Docs. You can use the web versions of their apps or install a desktop client that syncs with your online account which will allow you to work offline. Zoho and Google claim to let you work offline via Google gears but you can’t create new documents offline, only view existing ones. Thinkfree allows you to do everything just like the full blown Microsoft Office suite.

The service offers great sharing options for individuals or groups. Each document is Microsoft Office compatible and if the person you’re working with doesn’t have Microsoft Office they can view documents with a free ThinkFree viewer. ThinkFree also provides an offering similar to Microsoft Project with up to three free projects. Another plus? You get 1 GB of storage online for your documents.

More online tools from Mashable:

- 270+ Tools for Running a Business Online

- Work Together: 60+ Collaborative Tools for Groups

- 10 Great Tools for Online Business Communication