Many alternatives in portable Office suites
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A web-based version enables one to retrieve/edit documents from any computer
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A NEW generation of Office suites that helps you create documents from any computer is emerging on the Net. Netspeak features a few of them.
Nobody can belittle the importance of an Office package in the computing world. It is one of the rare products used by computer users of all hues. Though MS-Office continues to be popular, many free alternatives like OpenOffice and Star Office are also in place.
A shortcoming of normal Office packages such as MS Office and OpenOffice is that one cannot transfer the installed version of these packages from one machine to another. This is true of other programs (like browser and e-mail clients) as well. To obviate this handicap, portable versions of these programs are being floated. These include portable editions of Firefox and Thunderbird. Now, those of you who need a portable version of an Office package will find the newly developed Portable OpenOffice (http://johnhaller.com/jh/useful_stuff/portable_openoffice/) really useful. If you have a pen drive you can carry along this feature-rich Office software anywhere.
Although a portable Office suite gives you more flexibility, it is not an elegant solution in the current web-enabled scenario. The best alternative lies in building a platform-independent solution that exploits the Net's anywhere anytime feature. Ideally you should be able to retrieve/edit your documents/presentations from any computer on the Net — whether or not an Office package is loaded on it. So, your digital life will be more comfortable with a web-based Office suite that allows anyone on the Net to create/edit a document or a spreadsheet or a Powerpoint presentation with a browser. The on-line application gOFFICE (http://www.goffice.com/), discussed previously is an attempt in this direction. This service helps you create/store documents on its server with your browser and convert them into PDF files.
Recently this author had the opportunity to test another on-line Office suite called Thinkfree (http://www.thinkfree.com/). Thinkfree, which hosts a downloadable desktop office suite, provides an on-line edition of its product as well. The on-line version lets you create documents with your web browser and store them on its server. The service offers a free storage space of 30 MB.
A notable feature of Thinkfree enables you to post live documents/presentations/spreadsheets directly on to your blog from its server. To post on to a blog, access the document you want to post, click on the down-arrow button and select your blogging application. The service supports several blogging systems that include WordPress and Blogger. It seems the concept of an MS-Office compatible browser-based Office suite is gaining momentum of late. One needs to watch the progress of on-line Office suite initiatives such as AjaxOFFICE (http://ajaxoffice.sourceforge. net/ __ project not yet on) and Writely (http://www.writely.com/).
Automate Excel
Users of the spreadsheet package MS-Excel may find the blog Automate Excel (http://www.automateexcel.com/index.php), packed with lots of news/tips on Excel, quite valuable.
If you are a regular mouse user, sooner or later you are likely to develop finger/hand/wrist/shoulder pains/aches (http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/office/mouse/mouse_problems.html). In fact, this author is one of the victims of mouse overuse. One solution to this unavoidable risk is to minimise the use of mouse by using the keyboard wherever possible. Almost all programs provide keyboard shortcuts for invoking their various features/tools. As many of these shortcuts are generic (like ctrl-c for copy, ctrl-v for paste and so on) it is not that difficult to remember.
Of course, for each program, you need to take care of the shortcuts specific to it also. For example, in Firefox you can increase the font size by pressing `ctrl+.' Once you start using these shortcuts regularly, remembering them will be easy. You may not find shortcuts for all tasks. For instance, if you want to access a Google search output link, you have no alternative to the mouse.
If you are a Firefox user, you can easily circumvent this problem by installing the extension `Search Keys' (http://www. squarefree.com/extensions/search-keys/). If you invoke a Google/Yahoo search with a `search keys' enabled browser, along with each output link, you will find a number (number `1' for the first result, `2' for the second one and so on). By just pressing the number attached to the result you can access the site.
On-line HTML editor
If you want to test HTML codes or quickly learn HTML or create a simple web page on-line, access the on-line HTML Editor (http://www.squarefree.com/htmledit/). If you enter HTML code/content on the top frame, the output will immediately appear on the bottom frame.
J. MURALI
He can be contacted at: jmurali@gmail.com
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