MakeUseOf » beta

4 Sites To Find Interesting New Startups & Betas To Join

Craig Snyder — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:31:08 +0000

Through the caverns of the Internet, I’ve managed to get put on rather quickly to some of today’s hottest Internet startups such as ifttt, Instagram, and turntable.fm. Startups and betas are as popular as they’ve ever been, and I can promise you that every single day a brand new startup is launched that will garner attention and is probably worth joining.

Until recently, it’s been pretty tough finding these little guys in the wide space of the Internet. Luckily, we’ve got a few sites that aggregate the best of them and show them to you, so you can be the first of all of your friends to get invited. Maybe you’ll even get a vanity username.

Where in one of my last posts I only dangled the meat in front of you, you’re getting it all this time. I’ve put together four really great sites that not only act as directories for startups and betas, but very often also have exclusive invites just for you. No more rabid comments.

Beta Li.st

Beta List was really the one to start it all off and really popularize beta indexing. Maybe it wasn’t the first, but in my opinion it is definitely the best. It’s a simple paginated directory that does nothing more than update daily with (usually) anywhere in between two and ten brand new startups and betas per day.

Arguably the biggest perk about Beta List is that they often have very exclusive, sometimes very limited, invites that are special to their users only. As new betas develop, a lot of them go right to Beta List to get their first batch of test users, and you can take advantage of that if you’re quick. These guys are the alpha of betas. See how I did that?

The Museum of Modern Betas (MoMB)

MoMB is a very simple, very quick way to get your daily fix of betas. MoMB is more of a blog style vs. Beta List, and the entries are separated by type: invite-only, beta, etc.

MoMB tends to carry the more obscure betas (though they also cover the mainstream ones as well). You’ll see MoMB and Beta Li.st overlap in listings quite often, but I’ve noticed that both seem to pick up the slack of the other and push out interesting new ones that you won’t see if you’re browsing just one of the two. Good listing, easy to read, fast, etc.

StartupLi.st

StartupLi.st seems to be fail-proof, meaning if that your startup is destined to flop within the next couple of months then you won’t be listed on this directory. That can’t be said about the others. StartupLi.st takes a more white collar approach to betas.

Good list here, not updated quite as often as those aforementioned, but for good reason.

Go2web20

Web 2.0 is becoming an extinct phrase as Web 1.0 is put far behind us, but Go2web20 does a good job at reminding us what fits the Web 2.0 mold. Like StartupLi.st, Go2web20 only posts tried and true services that have a good shot at escaping beta and reaching a respectable state of development.

On the front page right now, I’m seeing names like ifttt and Pinterest (which we gave out 100 invites for way back in January of last year) so you can see that it’s a pretty tough list to squeeze on to. Great list if you don’t want to waste your time and you’re looking for mainstream startups that are eventually going to break into the vocabulary of thousands.

Startups are just about as popular as personal websites were back in the day, so jump on this! Like I said, I’ve found some very cool services, very early in their development and you can also.

If you’ve got a startup of your own, maybe you should check out Upstartly or BetaBait. Both services can help you get up off of the ground and on to one of these great lists! Where else do you get your beta fix from?

Microsoft Seeks Testers For Next-Gen Security Essentials [News]

Matt Smith — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:31:28 +0000

Security Essentials, Microsoft’s free anti-malware solution, is one of the more effective free options available today. Now a new version has been announced, and you can help give it a workout before it is released to the public.

Anyone who’d like a chance can go to Microsoft’s sign-up page to apply. Yes, I said apply. Though the software is free and available to everyone, this new beta will be limited to select testers. You’ll need to have a Microsoft Live account to apply, and you’ll also need to provide information such as your full name, though I suppose there’s nothing to keep you from lying.

The number of beta testers will be limited, at least at first. No official figures have been given on how many will be selected, nor has Microsoft said when the beta will be available for download. However, the company has stated that a public version should be out by year-end, so the closed beta must be starting soon.

What are the improvements that need review? According to Microsoft’s blog, a new “automatic malware remediation” has been added to axe malware infections without any user interaction. The remaining updates include better performance, a simplified UI and improved protection.

Source: ZDNet

Download & Try Aurora 9 – A.K.A. Firefox 9 – For Free [News]

Dave LeClair — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:31:35 +0000

The folks over at Mozilla have released Aurora 9, which will eventually go on to become Firefox 9. Simply head over to their website and download the latest release and give it a try. Obviously, this isn’t a final version, so there will be some bugs hidden in there. That said, this is a great way to see what is coming in Firefox down the line.

One of the major features in this release is a huge upgrade for tablet support on Android. It has a completely new UI and much improved tabbed browsing. This greatly enhances the mobile browsing experience on a tablet. In addition to some UI tweaks on the Android, it also promises a much faster start-up. For developers of web apps, they can now easily integrate the device’s camera right into the page, allowing end users to easily take pictures without ever leaving the web app.

A new type of interface promises a faster browser than the current version of Firefox on PC, Mac and Linux.

Mac users will also see some great improvements with this version. It integrates much more smoothly with Lion, and adds support for the two finger swipe to scroll. Mozilla is also improving support for dual monitors for Mac users.

For a complete list of improvements check out this post.

Source: Mozilla.org

Battlefield 3 Beta Available For Free Right Now [News]

Dave LeClair — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:54:44 +0000

Possibly the biggest first person shooter of the year is available in beta form for free right now. The beta is available on the big three gaming platforms, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

The beta is set to run from yesterday until October 10th, with the games release following shortly after on October 25th. If you are looking to check the game out before the release date, the beta is the way to go.

Keep in mind that this is a beta, and not a demo. That means you should expect some odd bugs here and there and possible connectivity issues. The purpose of a beta for a game like Battlefield 3 is to fix little things that go wrong with the game and network code, so if you encounter a bug while playing, please make sure to report it so D.I.C.E can look into it and make sure it is not in the final release of the game.

The beta features one map and one mode; just enough to give everyone a small taste. The map is the one from many of the trailers, Operation Metro and the mode is a staple of a newer Battlefield game called Rush.

I played the beta last night and I was thoroughly impressed. I have been looking forward to Battlefield 3 more than any game this year, and to finally get my hands on it was incredible.

Source: Battlefield.com

RockMelt – The Ultimate Social Media Browser Enters Public Beta

Nancy Messieh — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:31:37 +0000

After having been available in private beta since November 2010, RockMelt, the social web browser, has finally launched its next phase of public beta testing. Available for both Mac and Windows users, you can now download the public beta without having to wait for a coveted invite from a friend.

Similar to Flock, RockMelt is a browser that targets the die-hard social media addict by integrating Twitter and Facebook directly into your browsing experience. It doesn’t end there as you can easily integrate other sites that you use on a daily basis including Tumblr, YouTube and Google Reader. Aside from it’s social media features, RockMelt also includes basic features found in other browsers, such as hitting the tab key to search from the address bar.

Facebook

As far as Facebook integration is concerned, RockMelt automatically logs you into Facebook chat, with your contact list featured subtly on the left hand side of your browser. There you can see which contacts are online and which are idle. You can also selectively add Facebook friends to your favorites, and toggle the view of your contact list to show your favorite friends only.

On the right hand side of the browser you can access all of the apps and feeds that you have added to the browser.

There are two separate Facebook tabs on the right hand side. In one, you can see your friends’ latest posts and update your Facebook status. Interaction with your friends on Facebook include the ability to like and comment on their updates. When your feed is updated, or you have any new notifications, a small badge will appear over the Facebook icon with the number of updates. The second tab features all of your Facebook notifications, and new notifications are visible through a badge with a mouse over the icon.

When chatting with friends, a new window will open up. You are notified of new chat messages with sound notifications as well as badges on the contact’s image in your contact list.

Twitter

Like with Facebook, adding Twitter to RockMelt will allow you to keep up with your Twitter feed from a convenient window accessible from your apps and feeds list on the right hand side of the browser. With the Twitter feed, you can toggle a sidebar open and closed to reveal links to your replies, direct messages, tweets, retweets and lists.

You can tweet, reply to tweets and retweet them, using Twitter’s native Retweet method.

You can even share a link from Twitter directly on your Facebook wall.

As far as content is concerned, photos and videos are displayed embedded within your feed.

If you want to add multiple Twitter accounts, you can do so by clicking on the settings button in your Twitter feed.

An interesting RockMelt Twitter feature is the ability to search your timeline for keywords, which is a nice novelty feature. The more significant and more useful feature of searching Twitter is, unfortunately, not a feature included in RockMelt’s mini-client.

Some drawbacks we noticed to using Twitter on RockMelt is that to view a user’s profile you have to open it on the website, and if you want to retweet and add your own text to the tweet, you’ll have to copy and paste the original tweet.

Integrated Sharing

RockMelt takes things one step further, making it easy not only to access information directly from your favorite sites, but also making it easy to share content as well. The ‘Share’ button next to the address bar allows you to share links quickly as you are viewing them, directly to your added apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Have you downloaded RockMelt? Would you be willing to switch from your preferred browser to RockMelt? Let us know in the comments.

GNOME 3 Beta – Welcome To Your New Linux Desktop

Tim Brookes — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 01:31:06 +0000

Recently a beta version of the new GNOME desktop environment was released for testing, before the final scheduled release some time in April. As GNOME is the preferred graphical user interface for a considerable amount of Linux distributions, it’s only right that we check it out.

Many Linux users will already be using GNOME 2 which made its way into Ubuntu, the most popular desktop Linux distribution. GNOME’s main counterpart is KDE, often preferred for its look and customizability. The next version of Ubuntu (11.04) should be using GNOME 3, albeit with its own custom “Unity” shell and not the GNOME-Shell featured here.

Evolution Or Revolution?

The desktop has evolved ““ or so say the many bloggers and pundits who have laid their hands on the latest GNOME 3 beta. The desktop environment takes on a new shape, and one that probably won’t come as second nature the first time you use it.

So there’s a learning curve ““ your familiar desktop with its taskbar, window buttons and application menu is about to be blown out of the water in favour of a radical overhaul, partly written in JavaScript.

You’ve still got your multiple desktops (this is Linux we’re talking about) and you can still switch between them with Ctrl+Alt and the arrow keys (up and down now, not left and right). The familiar system tray area is also present, though the system clock has been shifted to the middle of the bar.

This bar, which is the closest thing GNOME 3 has to a Windows (or even GNOME 2) taskbar only ever displays the focused application, though without the Mac OS X-style extended menu. Contrary to what I have read on a blog or two, I was still able to Alt+Tab between windows.

Notifications have been moved to the bottom of the screen, and upon booting, I was presented with a smart-looking pop-up prompting me to connect to a wireless network. The desktop is an attractive affair, and feels like it was designed with your applications in mind; with plenty of space to get work done.

Before continuing it’s worth mentioning that GNOME 3 has support for all existing GNOME applications, so all your old apps will work without an update. What won’t work however is Compiz, or any other compositing or window manager. These are gone in favour of Mutter, which delivers much less impressive results and actually lagged considerably on my machine (you can turn it off). For me a good-looking desktop is important, and animations less so ““ so I’ll let it slide till the final release.

The Activities Window

You’ll be forgiven at first for scratching your head when it comes to launching an application. GNOME 3 uses its Activities window in the top left of the screen for this task, and with a simple hover (or click) of the mouse your desktop disappears and you’re presented with a neat looking interface.

There’s a few options on this screen, the first is your current desktop’s active windows and the second is a list of applications. On the left there is a quick launch favourites area where apps and locations can be pinned for quick access (and your active apps will also appear here) and on the right there’s a Find box which you can use to locate folders, documents and launch applications.

Right click an application and you’ll be invited to add it to your favourites, but search for a folder and this option is not present ““ something that might bother a lot of users who rely on quick access to a specific folder.

In the (latest) live version I tried, I couldn’t find any way of simply browsing my drives within the Activities window. Instead I could search for a folder and open it in a file manager on the desktop. Whilst this is slightly bothersome, the Find box works well and the absence of too many panels and options delivers a clean, minimalistic feel.

Look & Feel

You’re either going to love it or hate it, but once you’re up to speed all it takes is a simple flick of the mouse to bring up the panel. Flick again and it’s gone. Keyboard dependants will be pleased to know the “Super” key (Windows key) will also launch this feature, and the Esc key will cancel it.

The placement of the Activities trigger (top left) contrasts nicely with the network manager (bottom right), whilst the other two corners of your screen remain inactive.

Re-arranging your windows and desktops is a fairly easy, drag and drop affair. Clicking a desktop will display all open windows within the centre of the Activities window, in a nice tiled view for easy perusal.

Rather interestingly GNOME 3 does not include minimize or maximize buttons on its windows, mainly as there is nowhere to minimize to. The lack of a maximize button is excused by the fantastic inclusion of a Windows 7-style Aero Snap feature. Simply drag the window to the left or right to snap in place, or to the top of the screen to maximize the window.

When I first switched from Windows 7 I really found myself missing this feature within Linux. It’s nice to see it finally implemented, even if the GNOME team didn’t come up with it themselves.

Conclusion

It’s certainly different, and it might even speed up your workflow but its going to take some getting used to. As this is only the beta release I’m going to wait for the final version sometime in April before casting a more concrete judgement. For now though, it’s a very attractive and cunning take on the modern desktop.

You can make up your own minds regarding GNOME 3 by downloading a live USB image and following the instructions over at the GNOME 3 homepage.

What do you think of the new GNOME desktop environment? Maybe you prefer KDE? Any reasons why? Let us know in the comments.

Exploring The New Internet Explorer 9 Beta

Matt Smith — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:31:11 +0000

Geeks and Internet Explorer have rarely been on friendly terms. In the early days of Windows however, users of Windows computers didn’t have a great deal of choice as the only major competitor, Netscape, was struggling.

Internet Explorer’s popularity seems to have peaked in 2003 at a stunning market share of 95 percent, but fierce new web browsers like Firefox and Chrome have now reduced IE’s share to between 50 and 60 percent (depending on who you ask).

Microsoft, in classic form, has vowed to go back on the offensive with the latest iteration of IE, Internet Explorer 9. This new web browser is now available in beta form. Let’s take a look at IE9 and see what new features Microsoft is using to compete.

Hey! You Got Some Chrome In My Internet Explorer!

Loading Internet Explorer is rather jarring if you haven’t recently used Google Chrome. All of the recent Internet Explorer versions, including IE8, relied on a similar interface that made use of multiple toolbars located at the top of the browser window. This is how web browsers were made for years, and Microsoft seemed content with the interface they’ve developed.

Apparently Chrome made the IE team rethink their plans. This new version of Internet Explorer 9 stuffs your screen full of, uh, nothing. In fact, Internet Explorer’s default settings devote less pixels to toolbars than Google Chrome - and not by just a little bit, either. Don’t believe me? Check out this screenshot below comparing the two side-by-side.

If you told me six months ago that IE9 would rely on a more minimalist interface than Google Chrome I would have slapped you with a bass. But there you have it.

This minimalism leaks over to other areas of the interface as well. Notifications now pop up at the bottom of the browser page when they’re required and immediately go away after you’ve interacted with them. The favorites sidebar has been changed as well, so it only takes up a limited portion of the web browser instead of eating up hoards of pixel space even when you only have a handful of favorites listed.

Internet Explorer 9 also rips off – er, is inspired by – the tab window found when you open a new tab in Chrome or Safari. Just as in those browsers, opening a new tab now presents you with a summary of your ten most popular sites. You can also reopen closed tabs, reopen your last session, or start a private browsing session from this menu.

Integration With Windows 7

Windows 7 is a really solid operating system. All reports so far seem to indication that Microsoft is having a far easier time selling Windows 7 than Vista, so it isn’t unreasonable to expect a majority of computers to be running Windows 7 within the next year or two. Internet Explorer 9 provides further reason to upgrade by taking advantage of the new features in Windows 7.

This integration revolves around Windows 7 jumplists. For example, let’s say you decide to pin Twitter to your taskbar. Right-clicking on the Twitter icon will bring up a jumplist that lets you immediately write a new tweet or send a message. This feature is brilliant because websites like Facebook and Twitter already behave more like applications than traditional webpages.

Changes Under The Hood

Chrome’s humorous speed test videos highlighted a very simple fact – Chrome is frickin fast! Internet Explorer, on the other hand, has never been known for its speed. Shaving off a few seconds here and there when loading a webpage may not seem important, but it makes a big difference in the subjective feel of how fast a program is.

Internet Explorer 9, I’m somewhat surprised to report, is extremely quick. As quick as Chrome? Maybe. I’m not equipped to fully benchmark a browser, and IE9 is still in beta besides, but I can tell you that IE9 beta feels as quick as Chrome. And I typically use Chrome as my primary browser.

There are reasons for this. Internet Explorer 9 makes improvements to JScript and CSS rendering and also includes robust HTML5 support. These improvements also have increased IE9′s score in the Acid 3 web standards test. The latest build of IE9 scored 95/100, up from a score of 20/100 in IE8.

Conclusion

I’m really impressed by the beta build of Internet Explorer 9. It is a browser that I’d seriously consider using instead of Chrome, my regular browser. It felt equally quick and the integration with Windows 7 jumplists is awesome.

Do you agree, or do you think Microsoft still has a lot of catch up to do? Let us know in the comments.

Getting Things Done With Nirvana Private Beta [500 Invites!]

Dave Drager — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:31:00 +0000

Getting things done, or GTD, is a popular category of web application software. We have covered many GTD programs in the past and they each have their own little pros and cons. I am going to introduce you to another one called Nirvana (@nirvanahq on Twitter) and go over some of the things that make this particular product unique and useful.

Before we start, I should mention that Nirvana is currently in private beta. However, Christiane over at Nirvana has kindly offered us beta invites for 500 lucky readers!

Getting Things Done (GTD)

A brief summary of Getting Things Done is appropriate here. GTD is a productivity philosophy created by David Allen which basically says that in order to maximize your productivity, you need to empty your mind of the tasks on hand and focus on one task a a time.

GTD apps do this by doing a “brain dump” of everything on your mind, giving you the peace of mind that you won’t forget anything yet allow you to work on one project at a time. In today’s fast paced, multitasking world many people (including myself) have found this to be a refreshing take on things, allowing us to “get things done” in the most efficient way possible.

What Is Nirvana?

We have previously covered lots of GTD apps so I wanted to focus on what makes Nirvana different rather than a list of features, most of which are similar to other task applications.

The one thing that sets Nirvana apart from other GTD apps is its strict adherence to the basic tenets of Getting Things Done. Many apps I’ve seen have gone feature crazy and the end result is an overbloated, complicated mess of a task manager. Toodledo has been my go-to app for managing my ever growing task list, and it has been great to me. However I think Nirvana’s brilliance is in its simplicity.

You can enter tasks by themselves, or group them into Projects. The tasks entries are fairly straight forward, with the following options available:

Scheduled For
Due Date
Effort (Time)
Energy

Tasks and projects can also be broken down into Areas, such as home, work or school; allowing you to separate these areas and use Nirvana for each particular focus area of your life.

Another important tenet of GTD are “ticklers.” In an old office setting these were folders which you would put things that were due for that particular day – 43 folders of them (12 for months, 31 for days). In Nirvana, this is accomplished by email ticklers.

On each day, you can be reminded of what tasks you have scheduled or due on that day. This is handy for remembering to pay bills, or tasks that have been given due dates by your superiors. These are set up in the account settings, where you can also find a specific email address you can use to send tasks to from anywhere.

Mobile

Many apps now have iPhone and/or Android applications to complement their web offerings and I think this is an important aspect of keeping in tune what you need to get done. Often I do my best thinking when I am in the car and it is essential to be able to get my thoughts down into my task manager.

Nirvana is no different. Instead of going the ‘App’ route, they actually have created a compelling mobile website which is customized to your platform. When using this on my iPhone, the web app is responsive and feels like a native app, which impressed me the most. Transitions are intact and everything feels very fluid.

An iPhone native app is planned for the future, and I would be keen to try this out as well.

The Future

The future also looks very bright for Nirvana. Nirvana is a startup based in Montreal and their team is very accessible if you have feature suggestions or bug inquiries. They have a list of things they are actively working on, which includes a developer API, feeds and an improved import/export. One feature I see lacking, and this may actually be a plus, is the lack of any type of group organization or task management. For some I see this as a benefit, however if you are looking for a group task manager it would be best to use another GTD style app.

On to the beta invites! Use the code ‘makeuseofgtd‘ in the New Account Signup box to receive your invitation instantly. When you enter your email on the first page, they will confirm your email address and continue with the signup process.

Let us know how you find Nirvana, we found this app to be refreshing in its simplicity and design and hope you find it useful as well.

Test Run: First Impressions of Firefox 4 Beta

Nancy Messieh — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:30:05 +0000

Firefox 4 Beta is now available for Mac, Windows and Linux users. If you want to help Mozilla out and test-drive their latest offering, you can download the beta version and take part in the feedback process. So you probably want to know what’s new in this version before giving it a go. Below is a roundup of the changes they have made to the overall appearance, functionality and a little peek under the hood as well.

You’ll find that the address bar and tabs have a more compact feel to them, taking up less space than they did before, and the navigation buttons are smaller. The changes in Firefox 4′s appearance are subtle, but definitely pleasing. The functionality seems to have improved in comparison to previous versions, but some of the results in Firefox 4 Beta still disappoint in comparison to other browsers.

Tabs on Top

Probably following in the footsteps of Chrome, the tabs are now on top.

This is the default appearance in the Windows version, but in OS X and Linux you have to change it yourself, in the View menu, under toolbars.

Firefox Button (Windows Vista & 7 only)

In Windows Vista and 7, the menu has been replaced with one button at the top of the page, from where you can access all of the previous Firefox menu items. The use of the button complements the more compact redesign, but the appearance of the button itself leaves something to desired.

Bookmarks

Provided you’ve disabled the Bookmarks Toolbar, a new button is featured next to the address and search bars. From there you can access all of your bookmarks.

If you choose to enable the Bookmarks Toolbar, the button will disappear.

Another small change, making it more similar in appearance to Chrome is the merging of the stop and reload buttons.

Add-Ons Manager

The Add-ons Manager has been slightly revamped and opens in a new tab rather than in the previously smaller window. The UI itself is also due more changes, and it is of course, not actually functioning. It should be interesting seeing what they are going to do with it once it’s ready to ship. Most of your add-ons probably won’t work with Firefox 4, but you can contribute to the testing process by installing the Add-On Compatibility Reporter.

Switch to Tab (Windows only)

An interesting feature available for the time being only for Windows users is the Switch to Tab feature. If you’re the kind of person who has several tabs open at a time, you will appreciate this new change. By typing part of the name of the site in the URL, an option will appear to switch to that tab.

HTML5 Support

Firefox 4 boasts native support for HTML5 video. There isn’t much in the way of HTML5 content out there just yet – but with time – that is bound to change.

Crash Protection

Crash Protection is listed as one of Firefox 4′s features, but in fact, this has been around since the release of 3.6.4. When using plugins like Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime and Microsoft Silverlight, in the event that any of these plugins crashes, you will no longer be forced to restart Firefox entirely – losing any progress in other tabs. Instead, you are able to reload the page to restart the plugin.

Speed & Efficiency

In comparison to Firefox 3.6, there is a distinct difference in the speed. Running various Javascript benchmark tests, Firefox 4 was far ahead of 3.6, but still lagged behind Safari, and there was simply no comparison with Chrome.

Running the Acid 3 test, Firefox 4 still fails, unlike Chrome and Safari.

As far as memory usage was concerned, Firefox 4 seemed to be using more memory than 3.6 and of course more than double Chrome’s usage. There have been other reports that Firefox 4 was more efficient in terms of memory usage than 3.6, but that wasn’t the case in our experience.

Privacy

A significant change in Firefox’s privacy and security settings is in its changes to the CSS Web standard. In layman’s terms, the CSS flaw that exposed your browser history to websites has been remedied. The fix is not 100 per cent foolproof, but is a step in the right direction.

Developers will be interested to see other changes to Firefox 4 including Websocket support allowing development of real-time gaming and chatting, support for new CSS3 features allowing for faster display of webpages, a Web Console that allows for analysis of websites, and the JetPack SDK making Add-On development easier, and allowing you to install and use add-ons without restarting the browser.

Coming Soon

One much-needed feature in the works is the native syncing of settings, passwords, bookmarks, history and even open tabs, across multiple devices. According to Mozilla we can also look forward to faster browsing, new privacy controls and OS X and Linux specific themes.

Have you tried out Firefox 4 Beta? Let us know what you think of it in the comments.

How To Get an Early Preview of Microsoft Office Web Apps

Varun Kashyap — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:00:42 +0000

Office suite applications are ubiquitous. There are so many options available if you want to a create a document or a spreadsheet.

There are open source free desktop applications, then there are free cloud-based applications. Microsoft has been working on a free version of its popular Office franchise as well. The free version would be available online. Microsoft recently launched a tech preview. It is an invite-only preview, however you just need a Skydrive account and some URL tweaking to try out the Microsoft Office Web Apps Preview.

Here is how:

The following steps seem to work only if you have ?mkt=en-us appended to the Skydrive URL. So click here.
Create a Skydrive account (Windows Live Account) if you don’t have one, or log into your existing one. It gives you 25GB of online space you can use to store/backup your files. We wrote about it some time back.
Make sure there is a Word/Excel file in your Skydrive. If there isn’t, you can upload one.
You will see an option to join the tech preview to edit the file.

Click on the link, read and choose to accept the terms. Silverlight should be installed for you to use Office Online. Don’t worry, you will be given instructions to download and install in case it is not found on your computer.

With all that done and completed you are in and ready to test out the latest in cloud office apps.

So how good is it?

Well to begin with – the Microsoft Office web apps have the same ribbon interface of Office 2007 and Office 2010. So if you were hoping to get back to the Office 2003 like menus and buttons, you will be disappointed. The similar look definitely makes it easier to find your way around. All the icons, menus and options (though few) resemble the ones you would find in the desktop version of the software.

As for the file format, Microsoft Office Web Apps uses Office Open XML formats (i.e. the .docx, .xlsx, .pptx formats). However, you can still use the older formats, only they will be converted to the newer OOXML formats before Office Web Apps allows you work on them.

Overall, it is limited and don’t expect to see all the functionality of the desktop version or something reasonably close to it. You would be better to make a comparison with some of the web-based office suites instead, in which case the functionality seems respectable, no amazing over-the-top stuff that would overthrow Google Docs.

Collaboration is the key feature, as is often the case with most cloud-based applications. You can share files with others, make your files public, choose whether they would be able to edit documents or not. People can leave comments as your file gets edited, re-edited and refined.

Go ahead check it out and let us know what you think. Do you think Office Online offers the features you need to do your day to day work? Or is it too stripped down to be used for any decent job? Give it a thorough spin and sound off in the comments!