No Download Required: 30+ Apps That Are Killing Microsoft

Cut&paste of a post about "WEB3.0".

(original post here)

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With Google acquiring a Powerpoint-like tool to bulk up its impressive web office suite, and hundreds of startups releasing everything from web based word processors to complete operating systems, Microsoft is under fire. Sure, the company remains buoyant for now, but 5 years down the line, Microsoft may be struggling if it hasn’t adapted to this new world of web-based, ad-supported software. This week, we tested some of the services that are nibbling away at Microsoft’s dominance, with Google leading the charge.

Target: Microsoft Word

Google Docs - Google’s word processor, attached to your Google account, integrated into other Google apps.

Buzzword - Simple word processor built off of Adobe’s Flex, currently in private beta.

Writeboard - by 37signals, designed to be used by multiple users, focus on sharing and collaboration.

ThinkFree - basically Microsoft Word online.

Target: Microsoft Excel

Google Spreadsheet - not as good as Excel, but a decent spreadsheet app for basic needs, again integrated into other Google apps.

Zoho Sheet - like Excel but with way less features.

EditGrid - Not an Excel replacement, has graphing, extensive collaboration features.

ThinkFree Calc - Basically Excel online.

Target: PowerPoint

Empressr - Lets you import many types of media including Flash, also embeddable…impressive results.

Zoho Show - very simple creator, the results don’t look very great, but good for quick and simple presentations.

Google Presentations - Not out yet, but Google is going to release a general presentation editor sometime soon (this summer)

Spresent - A flash based editor that makes flash based presentations, they look decent and it has Flickr integration.

Target: Outlook

Gmail - Google’s mail client that has Google search built in, has about 3 GB of storage, can be customized to your domain, free for up to 25 users.

Yahoo Mail - Yahoo’s mail client with unlimited storage, new client very quick.

Zoho Mail - email client, free for individuals, for pay with groups. Has collaborative features.

Zimbra - Web based email client, adopted by ISPs for their clients, has a calendar, and document storage, even integrated VoIP, for a price.

Target: Outlook Calendar

Google Calendar - basic calendar app that integrates with Gmail.

Yahoo! Calendar - basic calendar app that integrates with Yahoo Mail

Kiko - Calendar startup originally owned by the founders of Justin.tv, sold on eBay and now owned by Tucows, lots a great features like RSS import, and contact management.

30boxes - Wonderfully simple calendar. Was one of the hottest in this space until Google Calendar launched and stole some of the thunder from the startups.

Target: Windows Live Messenger

Meebo - web based chat that supports Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, AIM, ICQ, and Jabber. Recently added chat rooms.

eBuddy - supports MSN, Yahoo, and AIM, has a mobile site.

Google Talk - in Gmail there is a Gtalk client that has all the features of the regular Google Talk client for the desktop. There’s also a version on the personalized homepage.

Campfire - like IRC, except better looking and with file sharing, integrated into the other 37signals apps.

Target: Movie Maker (and others)

Movie Maker is free, so Microsoft won’t lose money here. But users will be spending less time with desktop apps once online video editing becomes more feasible (we don’t think it’s satisfactory yet). Less people using these apps on the desktop would mean less incentive for Windows developers to build for that platform.
JumpCut - iMovie in your browser, lets you edit other people’s videos too.

MotionBox - doesn’t let you edit other people’s videos, but still a fully featured editor.

YouTube Remixer - Currently in Beta, powered by Adobe, results don’t look great, but it’s a start.

Eyespot - not really designed to be an editor, more of a remix and mashup maker, currently has a deal with Starwars to let fans make mashups.

Target: Windows??

OK, so nobody is abandoning their OS anytime soon, but web-based desktops and operating systems, if successful, will mean people spend less time on their real desktops and more time moving files around out in the cloud.
DesktopOnDemand - 1GB of storage, has web browser (you can download so it’s not useless), email client, word processor, spreadsheet editor, IM client, media player and other apps.

Nivio - 5GB of storage, basically Windows in your browser.

AjaxWindows - A webOS built in ajax, has lots of apps, has about 1GB of storage. Seems to be password protected at the time of writing.EyeOS - Open source web OS, enables anyone to collaborate and expand it, for example, make apps.

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