Web Apps Online » office suites

Docx Converter? Just Open in Zoho

Web Apps — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:08:24 +0000

One of the anoying things about Microsoft is that they allways want to their own thing, instead of following a standard. It is what happened to the internet browser (the successful inernet explorer challange of netscape) and the ebook reader (Microsoft Reader failed to beat Adobe (Acrobat) Reader), to name two.

Often these new apps come with their own file name extension, making them incompatible with other software. Now they actually have one format where they are the absolute standard . I think at the moment every pc in the world is able to process a .doc file. Even if you dont have MS word, most alternative software will process .doc files, online word processors are keen to have an import feature, google search indexes the files and even windows “native” wordpad can open a .doc file. So Microsoft got bored with people having to much ease of use and decided to through the .docx extension at the world in Office 2007. To maximize annoyance they made it the default format to save files in. Suddenly i found my inbox cloaked with unreadable files. Google Mail didnt have previews and nothing on my pc would read it. The only option was to find equally annoying free online converters, or – best one, but not always appropriate – send it back.

Luckily Zoho- the online office suite – had a response . They launched import functionalatity for Docx for their Writer app. So no more annoying converters. And while you’re at zoho, have a look around.There is a lot to see!

Zoho Apps: General Electric deal?

Web Apps — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:11:28 +0000

There is talk around town that the Indian start-up Zoho Apps that just celebrated their 3rd anniversary could be signing a deal with General Electric :

Unconfirmed reports are circulating that GE already chose Zoho, but Oliver Marks at ZDNET set the record straight today about the claims:”For the record…no decision has been made on Google Docs, Zoho, or any other vendor at this time, but a vigorous evaluation is taking place,” he writes.

So what is Zoho? Webguild says:

Zoho is a remarkable company. They have out maneuvered all the usual suspects such as Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce at their own games. Not too long ago, the company turned down a takeover offer from Salesforce. Zoho is an example of the new Web economics at work. The company hails from India, has never taken venture funding and has a ten person operation in Silicon Valley. Yet, if you look at its suite of products you would think it has a Fortune 500 company backing it. The company employees 600 engineers, developers, product managers, and technicians in India that develop and build its products.

GMDesk: Google Web Apps in One Package

Web Apps — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:52:02 +0000

Robert Nyman has made an intersting small application called GMDesk. It downloads in sec and provides with some nice package to have gmail, gogle calendar, goodle docs etc. But maybe the app shortcuts in Google Chrome work almost as well. An issue for both solutions is where a link goes. In Google Chrome it goes to a new tab in an excisting regular Chrome window, which is helpful if it is an external link but not so much if it is an “in-app” link. GMDesk simply opens it in a new GMDesk window, whcih can get a bit annoying and cluttered,