[Rule] browser based word processor (and other apps)

[James Miller]

I see list activity is picking up again, so I wanted to forward the post 
below, which came from a different listserv.  This attracted my attention 
as a good solution for older PC's, at least under certain circumstances. 
The wordprocessor worked well with the few documents I tried it on, and 
other apps are planned.  It struck me that, for a user of an older PC, but 
who had a fast internet connection, only Firefox would need to be 
installed in the way of robust applications: as long as internet access 
was working at broadband speeds, no wordprocessing software would need to 
be installed locally on said machine.  If they finally implement other 
major applications (as they say they will), one could get by with a 
machine with basic system services installed locally, plus X, a 
lightweight WM, and Firefox.  Does this scheme seem to others to hold the 
potential for making old hardware useful (in cases where decent internet 
connectivity exists) that it does to me?

James
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 12:11:24 -0800
To: LifeRaft <survpc at tmonroe.com>
Subject: +[SurvPC] browser based word processor is Micro$oft compatible

Below is the advertising email from Michael Robertson developer of Linspire. 
You can go directly to http://www.ajaxwrite.com/
to look at this zero cost solution to on-line Scribnerism.

Then see http://www.linspire.com/ajaxpress.php

========

Bye Bye Microsoft Word, Hello ajaxWrite

March 23, 2006

What if there was alternative for Microsoft Word that would install and open in 
6 seconds, read and write Microsoft Word .doc files and run on Macintosh, 
Microsoft Windows or Linux computers? And oh yeah, it was FREE so consumers 
didn't have to pay $499 for Microsoft Office. I'm excited to announce that day 
is here.

Before I go into specifics, let me give you some background about how it all 
came about. Two years ago, I received an email from a guy named Hisham. I 
usually get a couple of emails a week from someone with a big idea, but I got 
the sense that there was more to this one. He told me about his idea to offer a 
service like CNR (a popular Linspire feature that installs programs with one 
click) for all computers. He wasn’t talking about a software installation 
system, but rather a new way to build and deliver software using the power of 
the browser. This would mean that the latest software could be delivered 
directly to any computer with an Internet connection almost instantaneously.

Since he's in Germany, I agreed to a meeting in Brussels, Belgium where I was 
attending to other EU business. We met in a dark, smoky hotel bar, which lent 
an air akin to a spy novel rendezvous. Hisham pulled out a laptop and did a 
quick technology demonstration. Within a couple hours we formulated a plan to 
revolutionize the way consumers acquire and use PC software.

You can get music, movies and news with a single click, but if you need a major 
software program you have to drive to a store and waste the better part of a 
day and a significant sum of money to get to a point where you can use it. The 
same technology companies that have made it possible to deliver just about 
anything else with a single click on a computer haven't done the same for 
software. Microsoft and others seemed locked into a 1980s style of business 
largely because their monopoly has insulated them from competitive pressures to 
change.

My plan is to replace bloated, expensive PC software with a system that 
dynamically loads software to your computer when you need it and at no cost. 
Want to write a document? One click and you'll have a word processor at your 
fingertips. Need to create a financial model? Click, and a spreadsheet program 
is at your service. The software will always be up to date and run on any 
Mac/Win/Lin computer.

With this mission I quietly formed a new company last year and set about 
realizing our first products. I became the CEO and have been working with my 
team to build our cornerstone applications, the first of which we're launching 
today.
Introducing ajaxWrite, a completely web-based AJAX platform

ajaxWrite is a powerful word processor that can read and write Microsoft Word 
formatted documents. Anytime you need a word processor, need to open a .doc 
file or edit a .doc file, simply point your Firefox browser at ajaxWrite.com 
and in seconds a full-featured program will be loaded. For 90 percent of the 
people in the world, the need to buy Microsoft Word just vanished. This won't 
make Microsoft happy, but software users should be very excited that software 
just got cheaper, immediate and modern.

But ajaxWrite is just the start. We have a library of applications we have been 
working on to replace most of the standard PC software titles. Every week we 
will launch a new sophisticated program on Wednesday at 12:00 PST on 
ajaxlaunch.com. These programs will push the boundaries of what people believe 
is possible today with web-delivered software. These programs look and operate 
much like their traditional software cousins, but are cross-platform, loaded 
dynamically, and are available to users at no charge. I'm convinced if you try 
a few of these products you will understand how the software business will 
fundamentally change.

The impact of this shift in how software is delivered to users cannot be 
understated. First and foremost, we're blowing up the economic model that 
companies like Microsoft and Adobe have built their empires around - selling 
packaged software for big dollar amounts. Software is transforming into a 
service more akin to web mail, news, IM and VoIP where the basic offering is 
free. That doesn't mean that the companies behind these services don't make 
money, but that the way they make money will changes.

Secondly, software is constantly improving. Rather than living with a software 
program for 3 years until a new version is released, these programs are 
constantly being updated with features, bug fixes and security enhancements 
seamlessly delivered invisibly each time the program is launched. As your 
reading this, users are trying out ajaxWrite and giving us feedback in the 
forums. The changes and fixes are almost immediately implemented so the next 
ajaxWrite user sees the benefit.

Because these programs utilize browser technology and push some processing to 
servers, they can be small, which minimizes hardware requirements. Typically 
new versions of desktop software fatten up and soak up all available PC 
performance and run slowly on older PCs. ajaxWrite is moving in the opposite 
direction. It's a slim 400K. You read that right - its size is less than one 
megabyte, which means it runs equally well on a low-powered laptop as well as a 
high-powered desktop.

As you probably surmised from the names ajaxLaunch and ajaxWrite, we are using 
AJAX technology to deliver this software magic. But unlike other AJAX efforts 
that have produced web-based programs with awkward user interfaces, our 
programs look and operate like traditional software applications. Therefore, 
there is no need to learn a new interface with awkward buttons or browser-based 
interfaces.

I encourage you to try ajaxWrite.com from Firefox 1.5, or newer, and experience 
the future of software firsthand. There's no cost. No registration required. 
Nothing to install. Not even an email address is required. We've constructed a 
FAQ at ajaxLaunch.com which will give you more technical details. Please also 
take a minute to share your perspective in our forum about this and other AJAX 
software that we'll be unveiling.

-- Michael