Thing 13 Web Based Applications

I just had to do a shout out with the above to say I'm halfway done with my Things!  Thanks for letting me share my joy.  While I've loved learning new Things, I have spent a LOT of time doing my Things.

Back to the task at hand.  I tried Zoho Writer first.  While I loved the fact that you can access your accounts anywhere without "dropboxing" them, I'm not sure I like the fact that you can only access the last 25 documents if you go offline.  I do I lot of running with my girls, and need to have access to all of my files, and may not always have wireless access.  The setup is very similar to Word, which is my go to word processing program.  The pros outweigh the cons, however, when you are talking about a group project.  The availability of the document for all members to access and modify is awesome.  It also provides a feature that let's you track who made changes.  This is a handy feature for identifying those nonparticipating members, too.  I did have a problem when I tried to delete the smiley face graphic.  I tried the Control-X and the delete and once it was in there, it was staying.  That may be a deal breaker for me. If I want something changed, I want it to be easily changed.  Here is the doc that I made in Zoho Writer:

 

 I decided to try Google's version of PowerPoint.  While it was super easy to use, it didn't have the fun souped-up themes, or animation that PowerPoint had to offer.  The choice of slide options was also less than PowerPoint.  I guess I'm spoiled!  I can see that students could easily share this documents with others.  It could be a good tool if you have a group project.  Everyone would have access and rights to modify the documents.  Here is one slide of my Google presentation:

I compared the productivity tools in Google and Zoho and really can't say that I like one whole package over another.  I like the setup of Zoho and it's colorful screen images.  It just seems more inviting than Googles plain screen.  However, exteriors can be deceiving, as both offer similar products.  I thought that the Zoho Planner was a bit redundant, as it already has a calendar.  After reviewing these tools, I have to say that for collaboration on projects, students may find the Zoho more user friendly and to their taste, due to the vivid background and graphics.  Personally, I'm a Microsoft girl at heart and will stick with them for my productivity needs.  I will admit that Google has won me over for my online tools, such as my Google Reader, Google Pictures, Google Blogger and Google search subscriptions.