What can you use the application for?
ThinkFree is an online office suite, which includes a word processor.
What is the history and popularity of the application?
ThinkFree Office began as a computer-based Office Suite written in Java. Java is a programming language that can be run on many operating systems, including both Windows and Macintosh. The Thinkfree Office Online has been released April the 7th, 2008. This is essentially the same Office suite, but trimmed down slightly for use through an internet website. It still uses Java though, so you'll have to download the Java Runtine Environment in order to get things up and running. Once you've done this, and registered at the website, getting the Word Processor to work takes some time too. It runs in a pop-up window, but doesn't seem to be truly online. Rather, the entire applet must first be downloaded to your browser before you can commence working, which is a time consuming process. Between registering, downloading the Java Runtime Environment, and loading the applet, it can take up to 20 minutes before you are typing your document. This kind of defeats the purpose of web-based applications, as you'd probably be quicker just installing software on your computer. That said, it is the most advanced online word processing app, and you get 1GB of online document storage, enabling you to access your work from anywhere.
What are the differences to other applications?
ThinkFree Office differentiates itself from the other internet based word processors through its increased functionality, which makes it the most advanced web-based word processor out there. As well being able to set paper size, you can set both vertical and horizontal page margins, there is advanced tabbing and the page breaks are viewable while you are editing the document. You can also select from any font that is installed on your computer, as opposed to being limited to a set number of fonts, as is the case with other web-based word processors. Another neat feature is the ability to open documents straight from your PC, rather than first having to upload them. Unfortunately all these extra features come at a cost to performance. Sometimes simple tasks such as scrolling through a document or selecting words can become frustratingly slow.
How does the application look and feel to use?
The ThinkFree site, while looking very professional, has quite a bloated design, with unnecessary bells, whistles and animations of all kinds. You have to go through a couple of pages of links before you actually find the Word Processing facility. The word processor itself has a look and feel that, more than any other web-based word processor, almost exactly mirrors that of non-internet based software. This is quite impressive.
How does the registration process work?
The registration process for ThinkFree is time consuming, as you have to verify your e-mail address before you are allowed to do anything on the site. This means you have to wait for the e-mail to arrive first (in our case it ended up in the junk e-mail folder), click on the activation link and then log in all over again.
What does it cost to use the application?
The ThinkFree Office Online suite is a free service.
Who would you recommend the application to?
If you want a very advanced online word processor, then this is the most advanced one out there. Unfortunately it shares many of the same disadvantages as installed software, namely its large size and requirement to download a lot of software first. However, if you have a very fast PC and internet connection, you may not notice this. Even then, the ThinkFree site can be a bit slow at times.
