Word Processing on the Web

It’s finally happened - someone has successfully implemented a word processor on the web. It even includes embedded images and spell checking. A round of applause for the team over at Writely.

The killer feature here is the collaboration component that allows you to share any document with individuals you specify, or with the whole world, essentially making it a Wiki. The editing capabilities are also pretty advanced, and during my brief test run I found it extremely easy to use.

This is another highly responsive web application built using AJAX (a combination of two existing technologies, JavaScript and XML) to create the feel of a desktop application. Writely is free to use during the beta period, but I imagine they’ll begin charging once all the kinks are worked out. To follow Writely’s story, check out their blog here.

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2 comments ↓

#1 http:// on 09.21.05 at 3:58 pm

Now, this is what I’m talking about. I signed up for this thing because I’ve been curious about how something like thing would work and look. I knew it was only time before someone did it. It works well at least for the 10 minutes that I spent on it. David

#2 http:// on 10.25.05 at 9:21 am

It’s pretty cool, but it seems to be very similar to the Rich Text editor built in to gmail. It does have some collaboration capabilities that are interesting as well.