Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Web-based software and services are emerging for everything from checking e-mail to collaborating on business tasks.

Microsoft's concern is twofold: The paid services are convenient and easy to update, potentially offering an edge over Microsoft's Office and other desktop-bound applications. And the free services are, well, free; advertising often supports them.

OpenOffice's "Writer" is a close replica [to Microsoft Word], right down to the annoying tendency both have to try to "help" you when no help is needed. Writer repeatedly tried to finish the words I was typing. It also flashed a light bulb in the corner of the screen -- apparently its version of Word's much-derided Clippy.

Still, the entire free OpenOffice suite, which includes database, spreadsheet and other applications, was easy to download with a broadband connection.

And after I put Writer on my machine, I found I didn't miss Microsoft Word at all.