![]() It has added Web publishing, and it's cool that you can search by subject for images from the Flickr photo-sharing site, then insert them, which automatically pastes the source URL alongside the picture. The online version of ThinkFree offers some neat features that enhance its word-processing, spreadsheet-editing, and presentations-crafting abilities. Affordably priced at $50 for the desktop edition, this suite lacks extras such as a database. Like its online counterpart, ThinkFree Office 3 provides the core applications that people use the most: a word processor, a spreadsheet maker, and a presentation-graphics creator. Similarly, Write and Calc do their best Word and Excel impersonations. In fact, the first time we launched Show, we thought we had loaded PowerPoint by mistake (see side-by-side screenshots). The toolbars and the icons vary slightly, but Microsoft Office 2003 users will feel right at home. With its emphasis on interoperability with Microsoft Office, it's no surprise that both the desktop and online versions of ThinkFree Office mimic Redmond's look and feel. Luckily, however, there's a 10MB size limit per file-far larger than the 500K maximum within Google Docs & Spreadsheets. It takes longer to open and save work than Google does, which is irksome when you're in midthought. We'd prefer that ThinkFree let us skip between documents within one window under an arrangement such as tabs. You can keep Write, Calc, and Show open simultaneously, but each program can display only one open document at a time. ThinkFree Online opens a new window for each application. Which is which? A side-by-side comparison shows the striking resemblance between Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 and ThinkFree Office Show 3. Plus, you can choose to run ThinkFree apps in QuickEdit mode to shave off some loading time. Indeed, in our tests, we found that ThinkFree Online Calc pasted hundreds of spreadsheet rows faster than AJAX-based Google Spreadsheets. Still, ThinkFree insists that, while its Java technologies may lead to longer file-loading times, they can manage complex operations quickly. Having to click through pop-ups to enable Java applets is also annoying. Keep in mind, however, that if you clear your browser cache, you'll return to ThinkFree Online's agonizingly slow launch. In our tests, for instance, Write took more than two minutes to load the first time we ran it but only 20 seconds the second time. The next time you use the program, it should load quickly. One caveat about ThinkFree Online: the first time you use one of its three applications, be prepared to wait a couple of minutes while enabling Java. There's no setup involved, although you will have to register to use the program. The Basic online edition is free, while the Premium edition in beta testing will offer file synchronization and 24 hour tech support for $7 per month. The Web-based, Java-enabled version, ThinkFree Office Online, runs inside any Web browser via a high-speed Internet connection. Version 3 installs easily, and setup took only five minutes on our Windows PC. The ThinkFree Office 3 desktop suite is available via CD or download, and it runs on Linux, Mac, and Windows systems.
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