01/14/08 – Back on September 30, 2006, I wrote about the Writely Online Word Processor. At the time, it had been acquired by Google and was on its way to becoming a part of Google Docs, an online suite of office applications. While Writely took an early lead in bringing innovation to online word processors, this month I’ve discovered Buzzword, and thanks to this new web application, online word processing has taken a giant leap forward.
Google Docs Takes an Early Lead Despite Its Shortcomings
I was impressed and enthusiastic about Writely because it no longer ties me to one computer when I create, edit and print documents. Transferring files is a non-issue as Writely stores them on a remote server accessible from anywhere I have Internet access. This capability has really enhanced my writing by allowing me to write and edit my documents “on the road”. Furthermore, as Writely became integrated with Google Docs, this further facilitated my writing as my documents were now located within the Google software suite that I use every day.
Given these advantages, Writely, now known as Google Docs, isn’t a replacement for Microsoft Word. For one thing, it doesn’t have an interface for handling images or tables. In addition, Google Docs doesn’t inform you of page breaks or line wraps. And, I’m less forgiving here as these are two key stats I watch anytime I am planning to print a document. With Google Docs, knowing how many pages you’ve written is a guessing game that varies depending on the screen resolution and other settings of the computer you are working on. So, with this shortcoming in mind, this month I once again set out to find a better online word processor.
Buzzword Stole My Heart with Page and Line Breaks and WYSIWYG
If memory serves me, I think I searched on something like “online word processor page breaks.” Then, somewhere in the results I saw a blurb about an online word processor with page and line breaks (I think it may have been here). One more click, and I landed at buzzword.com. Further searching revealed that Buzzword was developed by Virtual Ubiquity who had recently been bought by Adobe. This was enough to convince me to go and register at the very nondescript login screen at buzzword.com.
Once I started using Buzzword, I quickly realized this isn’t your mother’s web app. It looks and feels like a desktop word processor. As you type, lines wrap, and page breaks appear. The setup is completely WYSIWYG.
Buzzword’s formating menus are an elegant and simple solution. Above your document are icons for Font, Paragraph, List, Image, Table and Comment. Clicking on any icon makes that menu appear while the others slide away. This means they don’t interfere with your editing space.
Inserting images and tables is no problem. Intuitive dialogs for each make it simple to get started, and making edits without messing things up is simple too.
Good Bye Microsoft Word
While Buzzword doesn’t have the myriad of features available in MS Word, it certainly has everything I need for my day-to-day writing needs. Anytime I want to write, I point my browser to Buzzword, open my document and start typing with the whole process taking about fifteen seconds. This quick load time is one of my favorite features as it lets me quickly get started writing rather than waiting for software to load. Once I’m finished, I can print or export my document as a Microsoft Word file for easy sharing. Furthermore, Buzzword lets you share your documents with other Buzzword users for easy online collaboration.
In closing, I must add that I haven’t touched on all of the features of Buzzword. If you’re interested in finding out more, read about Buzzword, or go ahead and create your own free Buzzword account.