Glide Write: A Slick, Flash-Based Online Word Processor

As you may have noticed if you've read a few of my articles, I tend to gravitate to new technologies, whether they be RSS and Podcasts, or else the new wave of web-based applications. Products such as Google Docs, Zoho Writer, and the like get me excited about software. We used to hear so much about how a paperless office was just around the corner, and that certainly hasn't happened. But with the advent of high speed, always-on Internet connections, I can see a day where the idea of an office that runs completely on software stored not on a central server, but instead downloaded from the Internet, might not sound so crazy.

I recently stumbled on a new word processor / office suite, named Glide. Glide is currently available for free, although it was not clear if that will always be the case. Regardless, Glide (currently in beta), probably has more functional online applications in one spot than I've seen attempted by any other group, except the possible exception of the Ajax 13 applications.

In addition to the standard word processor, which I'm using to write this review, Glide also includes a presentation program, a calculator, email client, address book, photo editor, calendar/appointment application, website creator, blog editor, chat client, and also places to store your documents, music, photos and videos. In addition, Glide has tiny applets available for tracking RSS feeds, weather information, and a music player, all available in the same window.

Glide takes the desktop analogy seriously, treating the open browser window as your computer's desktop. You can create multiple open word processing documents, each in their own window, just as would be the case if using a standard word processor like Microsoft Word. Each open document has its own menu system, and because of this, flipping back and forth between documents is as simple as it would be with a program like Word. No need to save a document in order to open a new one, as with Google Docs (and most online word processors).