On 11/9/05, Randomthots <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Personally, I can't imagine using an office suite over the Internet. > Unless I was hooked up over really fast, fat, pipes all the way, the > delay would drive me nuts. Maybe in a University environment over a LAN > that had a multi-Gbps ISP hookup, but not over any normal home hook-up, > not even broadband.
Try Writely http://www.writely.com/ - or Google Maps - http://maps.google.com/ - or Blogger - http://www.blogger.com/ They are all processes run over the internet in your browser, some of them doing some pretty complex and powerful things, and they are very responsive. It's all thanks to things like AJAX and Flash and javascript... Technologies that have been around for years, but are being used today in very cool ways. Typing up a report in an online word processor is really no different than typing up an email in a web-based email program. There is very little data going back and forth once the page is loaded. Even formating changes don't take much bandwidth at all. Saving the email may take a little bit of bandwidth, but not much more than emailing a Writer document, or a Word document, or a PDF. The more complex the program, like Calc, or Draw or something - then, yes, it could get into some bandwidth issues. And if you are trying to have 1000 people access your online spreadsheet program through one T1 line, it might get a little sluggish. And, even in a word processor, if you get into really complex stuff, then it could get slow maybe, but for the home end user, with broadband (and despite some people's protests on these lists, such a person exists), a simple to use online office suite would be great. -- - Chad Smith http://www.gimpshop.net/ - Because everyone loves free software!
