Review: Thinkfree Online Beta office suite

When it comes to free office suites, Openoffice always springs to mind. However, it can be rather unwieldy for those who move between computers.

Thinkfree is an online alternative with the advantage that no USB key is needed for the program or associated files. It offers word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software all through the web browser.

Keeping documents online is both a strength and a weakness. While they can be accessed by any computer with an Internet connection, if you lose this connection your files will be unavailable.

The real benefit of Thinkfree becomes clear when files are shared with other people - this can be very powerful for informal groups or those on a tight budget.

At present, registration and basic use is free while a points system is used for tasks that aren't part of the free package.

Points can be bought or alternatively earned by promoting Thinkfree. We're told this system may change in the future.

Thinkfree is powered by Java, so this must be enabled on the computer you wish to use it on.

Two different editors can be used. The quick edit is up and running almost instantly and useful for typing out short, uncomplicated documents, while the Power Edit tool requires more time to download but offers extra Microsoft Office-style functionality.

The latter took about 10 minutes for all the Java files to be downloaded on a broadband connection. Only the program files are downloaded onto the host computer; the documents remain on the server.

Finished documents can be published on your personal Thinkfree homepage. From here, other authorised Thinkfree users can read, edit and download them.

Just as with most office packages, spell checking is available while you type along with a word count and various autocorrect options.

All three of Thinkfree's elements (word processing, spreadsheet, presentation tools) are sufficient for basic tasks.

However, more demanding users will find the web-based nature of Thinkfree is restrictive; for example, although the spreadsheet tool has plenty of formulas to play with, there is no macro support.

In summary, Thinkfree is great if you want a simple and free way of sharing and editing documents online.

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System requirements:
Internet connection
Java-enabled browser