Type and travel: Web-based word processors

Who said you need to spend hundreds of pounds on the latest word-processing software? While Microsoft is revving up to ship Microsoft Word 2007 and sell it for a pretty penny, plenty of free word processors are available that invite you to write and edit whatever and wherever you want, without touching your wallet or installing any software.

Online word processors let you save your work to the Web, which can save the day whether you're a mobile student or a small-business owner, a freelance journalist or a scientist in the field. You can start a file in, say, London and perfect the prose later in Paris. The portability of Google Docs & Spreadsheets (formerly Writely), Zoho Writer beta and ThinkFree allow you to invite other people to view and edit your work. All you need is a secure and speedy Internet connection.

Not only do these three free tools let you import and save files that will work in Microsoft Word and with OpenOffice, but they also let you create PDF files or post a blog entry with the click of a button. Unfortunately, none of the writing tools we've reviewed imports from or exports files to Corel WordPerfect X3 desktop software, a veteran rival to Microsoft Word. You can, of course, cut and paste text from any WordPerfect file into Google Docs, Zoho or ThinkFree documents.

If you're looking for a seamless online suite that lets you integrate charts and presentations into your text files, don't hold your breath. ThinkFree online comes closest. Zoho Office beta offers even more tools to make spreadsheets or presentations, and even manage customer databases, but it's not easy to integrate those applications. And Google Docs beta is simple to use, but its integration with Google Spreadsheets is pretty much limited to a common sign-in page. Another option for working with several people and projects at once is the JotSpot wiki 2 (now owned by Google), a user-friendly collaboration system that lets you share image, text and spreadsheet files. Or if you're curious about Microsoft's next steps, you can test-drive a Web-based, Internet Explorer-only beta version of the entire Microsoft Office 2007 system at office.microsoft.com.

Should you seek the security of a desktop companion to your online word processor, only ThinkFree offers both (although you could download the better, free OpenOffice instead). Our review of ThinkFree focuses more on its desktop version, but you don't need to install that to use its Web-based component.

So which online word processor should you pick? Most of these applications remain in beta testing, so expect their features to change. Overall, we were partial to Google Docs' quick setup and easy-on-the-eyes interface, but check the chart below to find the tool that best fits your personal needs.