Web-based Apps: The good and the bad (maybe)

For those of us who cannot afford to upgrade to the newest version of Microsoft Office, there is another option that will make the upgrades for you. No, they won't upgrade Office, but you can use web-based applications--and they are free.

One such application described in step #18 is Zoho offering Microsoft Office-like applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentation makers, databases, calenders, and more.

I experimented with both the word processor (Zoho Writer) and spreadsheet (Zoho Sheet). For anyone who is already familiar with MS Word and/or MS Excel, it will not take long to get accustomed to Zoho's version. I did find that the programs took a little time to load and there are not all the options available that you would find in an off-the-shelf product.

Zoho offers some nice features, such as the ability for various users to work on the same document, access to documents from any internet terminal, and the ability to turn documents into blogs quite easily.

However, I have some concerns with web-based applications. As I have already mentioned, Zoho does not have the range of options and utilities (I miss not having the auto-fill feature available on Excel). I also would like to know how secure the site is for saving personal and/or vital information. After all, there have been plenty of news reports of businesses releasing so-called secured information or reports of the information being stolen. Plus, if someone decides to use web-based applications exclusively, what happens if his or her internet connection is down?

On a personal note, I did not like how Zoho automatically logged me into its applications. Although this feature may seem nice in that you would not have to log-in for each new window or session, I would not like it if I was using a public computer. Apparently, this is embedded in Zoho and not with the internet browser since I tried it with both MS Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Overall, I am glad these applications are available and I may use them more and more as web-based applications' features become superior to older versions of purchased products I am using now.