Entered CNET Catalog: 06/16/2006
SKU: SERVGOOGLEWRITELYBETA
Manufacturer: Google
Product summary
The good: The free Writely word processor offers a clean interface that's a breeze to use from the start. Writely does the trick for writing, basic formatting, and multiperson editing while letting you save Word-compatible files, post to blogs, and tag documents by topic.
The bad: Writely requires Internet access; lacks advanced editing features; doesn't integrate with any tool for making spreadsheets or presentations; doesn't import or export Corel WordPerfect documents.
The bottom line: Can Writely replace Microsoft Word? Yes, if you have stable Internet access and don't need a ton of editing and formatting features.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/21/2006
Google's Writely remains in limited beta testing. You can sign up on the wait list at writely.com. Once you have access and log in, setup is simple. Just click the New or Upload links to open a separate browser window for writing and editing a file. The document composition layout is elegant and self-explanatory, with tabs and drop-down menus for basic functions along the top. A strip of editing icons lets you save, print, undo, check spelling, insert Web links, change font formatting, and more. Each time you log in, the main Writely beta interface lists your documents and lets you mark them with a star, tag them with a topic, and archive old files to keep them out of sight. Unlike with the Web-based ThinkFree, you can keep more than one file open at the same time.
To migrate content from another source you can either upload HTML, Microsoft Word, and image files; cut and paste to a Writely document; or e-mail a file to your Writely account. You can save Writely-created documents to a hard drive as HTML, RTF, Word, OpenOffice, and PDF files or as RSS feeds. And while Writely beta still lists PDF publishing as a paid premium feature, this option is now free. You can also create an RSS feed of a document and select settings to keep that feed private or open its contents to the public or to choice individuals.
Writely includes quick menu items for adding a Web link, a table, or an editing comment without confusing you with excessive formatting choices. Writely offers only 18 fonts, a drop in the bucket against Word and WordPerfect, but you do get special characters for adding accented letters for non-English, Roman-alphabet languages. On the other hand, the free online word processor ZohoWriter beta offers 12 fonts. Writely also lets you preview files before you print or post them to the Web. You can use this service to make a blog post, without leaving the page, to accounts at Google's Blogger, as well as to MetaWeblog, Movable Type, BlogHarbor, LiveJournal, Squarespace, and Blogware. Or if you're crafting a novel in Writely, its Bookmarks function allows you to mark the start of each chapter so that you can instantly jump to it without scrolling through dozens of pages. However, we still prefer Corel WordPerfect X3 for writing a tome.
Writely beta's simplicity is a strong draw for us. It didn't irritate us by anticipating our next move as Microsoft Word 2003 does. For example, Writely didn't interpret a desired layout by applying a formatting library to our document. Nor are there hard-to-tweak elements, such as Word's intractable text boxes, or hidden dialog boxes to discover.
The major downside: There's no desktop version of Writely as there is with ThinkFree, so if you get knocked offline you'll have to open those files in another program. If you can't afford a desktop word processor, we recommend the popular, free OpenOffice Writer. But if you depend upon a graphics-intensive office-productivity suite that can integrate charts and graphs from spreadsheets, as well as slides and infographics from a tool such as PowerPoint, then we suggest that you check out the changes due for Microsoft Office 2007 beta 2, a download that you can test-drive for free until the final, pricey product arrives early next year.
To track changes to a file, Writely saves a history of revisions and lets you compare the current version with an earlier edition, from several minutes prior or from the first moment you saved the file. Nevertheless, we prefer Microsoft Word's Track Changes feature, which makes your edits more obvious without switching between separate versions of a document. Writely's collaboration features are strong and self-explanatory, allowing editing and view-only settings. Along the bottom of the document window, Writely displays the identity of users editing your document at the moment, then highlights their edits. And it steps you through the process of sharing your work with the world at large or, via an e-mail invitation, to a select group of people. While the instructions are pretty clear, we'd like Google to add an extra warning step that would make you pause and think twice before you fully open access to a file, just to ensure that you know what you're getting into.
Writely is in its beta-testing phase, and we encountered quirks. For instance, out of the blue, the cursor disappeared, so we couldn't figure out what line we were on. Curiously, immediately after we'd placed our cursor within a red, bold headline in a Writely document, then switched to a document within Word, the text we typed within Word became red and bold. And Google had to change Writely beta's RSS file settings because initially, certain RSS readers could potentially find Writely documents that users thought were closed to the public.
Service and support is very good for this Web-based service, though not superb. Google provides a quick tour, a searchable online knowledge base, and user-guided forums for Writely beta. You can report beta bugs, but there's no e-mail support to help you with unusual questions.
Overall, Google's Writely beta is an excellent tool that can handle most word processing functions. We find it convenient for cash-strapped students, frequent travelers, and small-business people who need to be on the same page with coworkers or clients scattered around the map. Nevertheless, we recommend that you pair Writely with a desktop Word processor as a backup for when Internet access is flaky. It's too bad you'll need a third-party tool to do that.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10out of 10 user reviews
A lot of work to do to catch up with GoPC
Pros: Free, easy sharing
Cons: Slow, very limited functionality and compatibility
While writely provides some level of compatibility with MS Word or Open Office, it lacks the capacity to provide any advanced formatting features or read those features from existing word/open office dos.
I can't help feeling that these type of web based applications are always going to trail behind the speed, functionality, performance and compatibility of native applications.
The only thing they really have going for them is the fact that they're available through a browser.
However, Google have a lot of work to do to catch up with well established online desktop environments such as www.gopc.net that offers a complete Online Operating System complete with a full Office package, browser, email, graphics programs, etc that all work today, are very compatible with commonly used applications and provide native-like performance.
out of 10 user reviews
Everyone is missing the point
Pros: tagging, collaboration, sharing via e-mail, blog or web site, simple word processing
Cons: you have to share each file individually, there is no provsision to sync with other users in order to seamlessly share file with few or no clicks, no files
I know this is not a review of Yahoo Photo Beta; my point is I have been hoping someone would offer the same thing for word processing,sharing and collaboration. I expected more from Google even if this is still a Beta. Hopefully they will make these changes soon. I can think of so many uses for a well thought out and executed
site.
out of 10 user reviews
Excellent online alternative
Pros: Collaboration, portability, import/exporting
Cons: Problematic image handling during export
out of 10 user reviews
Writely Beta Needs Substantial Improvement
Pros: Free with no client installation
Cons: Requires Internet connection; many bugs when tested as a blog editor
In a comparison between WLW and Writely as blog editors, Writely lags far behind. For the WLW review, see http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/windows-live-writer-beta-blogger-test.html; for Writely, see http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/writely-beta-finally-opens-with-thud.html.
I'd give WLW a 6 rating.
out of 10 user reviews
Writely gorws on you.
Pros: Easy to use and collaborate with others
Cons: File export needs work
I was actually kind of jaded about Writely to begin with, but I'm starting to see more uses for it now. Collaboration on documents doesn't have to mean emailing Word or OpenOffice documents with tracked changes now, so Apple iWork or MS Works users don't have to buy or install anything extra, for example. Inviting or adding users is very easy, too.
I also had the opportunity to use Writely when I was away from my own PC. (Even though I have a laptop, that doesn't mean I always have it with me.) I dashed off some test while setting up a friends new PC one afternoon, and finished it up when I got home later that day. Using the page setup options in my browser even produced printed copies that were acceptable.
I'll admit some of Writely's appeal is the novelty, and there are some quirks. Saving to a local Word file results in some funkified formatting that has to be cleaned up, and I've found it works just slightly differently depending on which browser you use.
Still, within its design limits, and for its intended use, Writely works very well. I give it a seven for function, plus one point for fun. For now, it's probably going to have mostly niche appeal, but I've liked it better than I expected to. It might be interesting to see how it evolves, especially now that Google owns it.
out of 10 user reviews
First impression is pretty good, but there are limits.
Pros: Online text processing and storage available from anywhere.
Cons: Limited functions, not the best for hard-copy or export to other formats.
For "remote" use when travelling, or for collaboration on informal tasks, Writely works well enough, and is perhaps the most reliable, stable, and consistent of any of the online "applications" I've tried. (I've taken ThinkFree Office Online, Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheets, and Google Spreadsheets on test-drives, too.) Sharing and "publishing" work couldn't be much easier, and the auto-save feature keeps one from losing work.
Exporting to a locally saved copy for more comprehensive formatting is disappointing though. No matter the format, the resulting file doesn't look much like the on-screen version, and reformatting it to a presentable state is tedious.
Printing is not the strong suit of any of the online services I tried (with the possible exception of TFOO's "Power mode", but I got some pretty decent results from Writely after tweaking my browser's page setup a little.
I give Writely a "very good" in a relative sense, in that I think it is overall one of the better online word processors. All of them are in beta release, so quirks and bugs are expected, but the other choices repeatedly suffered disappearing text, fonts that changed all on their own, and other frustrating behaviors that sometimes made simple tasks all but impossible. In my experience, Writely was much freer of failings such as those.
Writely is probably best suited for collaboration on informal tasks, blogging, or for use by folk who have no computer of their own, but have access to the Web at a public library or cyber cafe. For anything that anywhere near approaches mission-critical work, these online services are just not quite ready.
out of 10 user reviews
Not bad, but not yet great.
Pros: Can collaborate on documents, simple to use, speedy.
Cons: File export is to DOC and ODT is not good.
Writely might be useful for people collaborating on a single document, instead of using MS Word or OOo Writer and change-tracking. The tools are a little limited in number and scope, though.
For individual use, I'm not sure I see much point in Writely (or Zoho Writer, or ThinkFree, etc.). For those traveling and using public or other people's computers, maybe? If cost is the only issue, there are free alternatives like OpenOffice that are much more capable and flexible.
I printed a couple of files with Writely, with pretty good results, and the same with the PDF export, but saving files to DOC or ODT format was a different story. Writely makes some funky style sheet choices when exporting, and the files end up with extra blank lines and rather jacked-up paragraph structures at times. Cleaning them up can be a pain.
Writely's still in beta, so maybe things will improve. I've also tried ThinkFree, Zoho Writer, and AjaxWrite, and all of them have their share of problems and limitations, too. (AjaxWrite is a bad joke.) Writely might be the most reliable and predictable of the bunch, but they all seem to have a ways to go before the deliver on their promises.
out of 10 user reviews
Open Office is free too
Pros: Free, great if you can't permanently install software
Cons: Needs internet connection
out of 10 user reviews
Great Collaboration tool
Pros: Free, Friendly interface, easy to use
Cons: Not a full fledged word editor
The only drawback I found was that we could not format the documents very well. We had to download the document in word and make the final formatting changes before publishing it.
Over all a great tool. I highly recommend it.
out of 10 user reviews
Great tool, basics are solid
Pros: Easy of use, clean UI, spell check
Cons: printing formats
