All right, maybe this does not qualify as a full blown review. Regardless, I have been very happy with my recent switch from OpenOffice to ThinkFree Office. Now before you even bother with the e-mails, I realize that calling a non-free application suite ‘ThinkFree’ might seem sort of strange to some of us. However, I am of the opinion that this may just be its mindset - free thinking, get it? It’s not part of a bait and switch program, honestly. As a matter of fact, I am loving its software to pieces!

So why do I love it? Well, for one thing it is Java driven and I think that just rocks. I mean, because of the decision to make Java the driving force behind their software suite, I believe it has really opened the doors for all users, not just those who prefer Windows. Linux, Windows and Mac users can all enjoy what ThinkFree Office has to offer. And that folks, is a refreshing thing to see.

The individual applications themselves are definitely modeled very closely after MS Office. The word processor for instance, is almost indistinguishable from Microsoft’s Word. File formats follow the same line of thinking. If you are working in Calc for instance, then you will be saving to a MS compliant Excel file extension for easy portability. With other clones like Oo, you would have to change the default save setting to get this result.

Now for the side of things that really matters to the end user - what’s it going to cost? Well, the licensing is actually cheaper than its Microsoft counterpart. Besides that, they also have a really great update feature that guarantees that you are always running with the latest version of the software.

Another really cool offering they offer is called ThinkFree Office Online. Unlike Microsoft’s online resource, ThinkFree will allow you to use a Web-based version of their software - free. That is right, no charge at all. While it helps to be on a broadband connection and to have the latest version of Java installed, I am willing to bet that it is still usable via dial-up.

So how does it work? Well, the first time you run one of the Web-based apps (Write, Calc, Show), you will have to wait a few minutes to load the needed Java applets to make each application work off of the Website. Once this is done however, the apps load quickly and you are given a set amount of free online storage space for your documents.

Now folks, this is simply killer. Once you have a free account setup, you can login from any Java enabled PC/ Mac and edit Word, Excel along with Powerpoint files with ease. The best part is, you can save to your given Web folder or even to your PC if you prefer. Now that is proactive thinking.

In closing, I would definitely recommend looking into their application suite. It is a bit on the intensive side, but then again, so are most newer office applications.

[tags]word,microsoft office,openoffice,thinkfree,excel,powerpoint[/tags]