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Test Driving Online Document Collaboration Tools

Buzzword, Adobe's Web-based word processing application, has made quite a splash over the past few weeks as it launched as part of Adobe's new Acrobat.com site. But while it's a neat tool, it faces some very strong competitors in the online document collaboration arena.

It's a crowded field of solid entries, most of which offer other file types -- spreadsheets, presentations -- than just online documents.

My other favorite online document collaboration tools are Zoho, Versionate, and Google Docs. Also due to launch this summer is TextFlow, which appears to have very slick real-time collaboration features. I look forward to checking it out.

Each tool has its strengths. Zoho offers a multitude of online tools and formats, and its real-time document collaboration is particularly impressive, locking each section as it's being editing, and updating on the other user's screen within seconds. This instant feedback is key to avoiding stepping on each other's toes, edit-wise.

Versionate uses more of a wiki model and makes it easy to create a site (yoursite.versionate.com) with access to the documents. Its other features, especially real-time collaboration, seem a bit clunky compared with the competition, however.

Buzzword's word processing functionality is fairly basic, and while the Flash-based UI is slick and mostly intuitive, I had to consult the help section for a question or two. Sharing documents for "real-time" collaboration is a bit sluggish, though; in my testing, it took about a minute for my changes and comments to appear on the other user's screen. I could, however, click Save and force changes to update instantly.

Google Docs is certainly the best known of the tools, and its interface and ease of use are second to none. However, its real-time document sharing suffers from the same lag issues that mar Buzzword. They could both stand to take a page from Zoho's playbook in this area.

Don't get me wrong -- I like Buzzword, and with Adobe's recent intense focus on its online initiatives, it's safe to assume that it will enjoy an active development cycle. But my recommendation is to try all the tools mentioned above and see which fits your team's collaborative needs best.

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