Writely Properly

Google has been tripping the light fantastic with acquisitions and features on their Web 2.0 kick. After being fairly modest in features and additions to their repertoire the first few years, the last couple years they have produced and bought out a plethora of new web-based apps. It took off with Gmail and Google maps, and hasn’t slowed down since.

One that was bought out earlier this year is a web-based word processor named Writely. After hearing about it, I wanted to try it out. But, unfortunately, soon after Google snatched it up, they stopped accepting new signups without an invitation (ala Gmail). Luckily, after a bit of searching, I was able to get an invite and try out the new app.

It is very simple, but elegant. So far it runs smooth as silk. I can see why Google wanted it, as the interface already reminds me of Gmail’s. It seems to do a great job of simple word processing. It also allows you to write and edit in HTML, which can make it a very nice tool for bloggers/web site updates. In fact, it has a tab with options such as “View as a blog” and “Publish to your blog”. Documents can also save to PDF and other popular word processing formats.

It has a collaboration feature that allows multiple people on Writely to edit or change a document. One can add or remove collaborators at will, and you can see their additions and revisions at any time.

Writely is still in beta with no real release date posted anywhere. There is also no word on when they will allow public sign-ups again (if ever, even Gmail still technically needs invites). I have several invites to dispense, and I doubt I will need them all, so if anyone is interested in one, leave a comment below (with a valid email), or reply to this post on the forum.