The Case for Online Word Processors

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It'south no secret I am a fan of online word processors — computing in the cloud is just the thing for a guy similar me who (I'g told) is apt to find his caput in the clouds also. I'1000 writing this on Google Docs, and have made no secret of my beloved for Adobe'due south Buzzword (which unfortunately seems to take some issues on the computer I'm using right now). Zoho Writer has gotten a fiddling employ from me every bit well.

I was recently asked what the large deal was — why should anyone go online when at that place's a perfectly adept copy of Office, Works, WordPerfect, OpenOffice.org, Pages, WordPad, LaTeX, AbiWord, KDocs, or any of a multitude of other powerful, effective, and highly usable give-and-take processors available from the desktop? What advantage could a feature-limited online word processor possibly offer.

It's a practiced question, and one that boils down as much to subjective factors as to any absolute benefits give-and-take processing online might offer. And information technology's a question with as much relevance for the whole range of powerful Web ii.0 apps that have emerged over the last couple of years and which await fix to boss computing in the virtually-to-mid-time to come. Spreadsheets, paradigm editors, presentation software, databases, and more are migrating online, and it'south reasonable to ask why, and to what end?

What follows is my response to the question — the reasons that affair to me as an end-user of many kinds of online applications, especially word processors. At that place may well be other, even better, answers to the questions online apps pose; at the same time, some of my reasons might non utilise to anybody, or fifty-fifty to anyone other than me. But in the terminate, I think that my experiences aren't all that unique, and while I might represent an farthermost in some regards, the reasons that online apps work well for me will apply to at to the lowest degree a meaning number of other people, if not most.

Availability
The primary do good of online word processors for me is their availability from any computer with an Cyberspace connection. Since my schedule puts me in front of a number of unlike computers throughout the course of the day, and changes equally well from semester to semester, I can't count on beingness able to access the same software on one computer that I used on the last — and unfortunately, although almost mod file formats tin can exist read by any word processor, in that location's ever the risk of losing formatting, pagination, or fonts opening a certificate created in one program (or version) in another.

Using an online word processor means I take a standard format and interface from reckoner to computer — I don't have to worry about whether the version of Word on this computer matches the one on the computer where I started my document, or whether I won't be able to open it at all. I simply log in to Google Docs or Buzzword and continue where I left off — as I am with this mail, which I started writing in my part at the university and which I'1000 finishing on my netbook at home.

Off-site storage/backup
Another advantage of cloud-based word processors is that no thing what kind of trouble I go into, my documents are yet safe and sound on servers hundreds of miles away. I can't tell you lot how many pollex drives I've left in computers — or put through the washing machine. I've never done that with the Internet…

The document storage online word processors offer gives me an excellent off-site backup for important documents, even ones I don't create or work on online. I feel a lot better knowing that copies of my virtually important documents exist far away from my abode, merely in case.

Collaboration/Sharing
When it comes to collaboration, most online give-and-take processors vanquish even the mighty Word, easily downwards. Documents can be worked on live, rather than emailing copies back and along and trying to proceed track of versions. More important, you don't have to contend with Microsoft's awful, atrocious, atrocious Rails Changes (which isn't to say other word processors practise it much better…).

Plus, well-nigh online give-and-take processors allow you lot to set various levels of permissions, then that yous can offer read-only access to one group of viewers, full editing privileges to another, and the ability to add comments to a third. You tin can often postal service documents directly to the Spider web, too, which can be quite handy.

User interface
Finally, some online word processors just have practiced user interfaces. Google Docs is simple, streamlined, perfect for just opening a document and slapping some thoughts together. Adobe's Buzzword, on the other hand, is simply gorgeous — information technology inspires me just to look at information technology. I wrote the first 10,000 or and then words of my volume, Don't Be Stupid, on Buzzword just to go on using information technology!

Information technology seems foolish to point to the way an app looks every bit an advantage, but I'd argue information technology'due south a very real gene. Tools thing — ask whatsoever carpenter. Buzzword to me is similar I imagine a finely forged chisel is to a woodworker — my fingers just itch to get to piece of work. Google Docs is like a prepare of sturdy wrenches — zip too fancy, only I know it gets the job done. While there are desktop-based apps that besides feel quite good to utilize, the stripped-down interfaces of online apps seems especially well-suited to this kind of inspiration.

And then there you take it — four large reasons why I utilize online word processors, even when I have Role or some other program easily accessible. Like I said, at that place may be other reasons — and maybe you take reasons I haven't thought of. Why not share your thoughts in the comments below?

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Source: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/the-case-for-online-word-processors.html

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