Edit Documents Offline Via Online Word Processor

Zoho has updated their online word processor Zoho Writer, allowing multiple users to work on the same document whether online or off. For example, a person in New York can now edit a document that was originally created in Paris without having to constantly exchange email attachments.

All changes that were made offline can later be synched automatically when an Internet connection is found. (Source: tailrank.com)

Although it may seem like a relatively simple upgrade, the new offline feature is ideal for those who constantly find themselves on airplanes, trains, or other areas without wireless access. While the online-offline synching feature can be found on a number of applications already, Zoho is one of the select few to bring the concept to a word processor.

Zoho Writer is part of a web office suite and is able to read and write file formats used in MS Office, OpenOffice and other systems. Zoho is quickly becoming a viable alternative to other office suites because it is free to use and files can be shared and accessed from anywhere in the world. (Source: venturebeat.com)

This is the second time Zoho has experimented with an offline feature for its word processor. This past August, an offline addition to Zoho Writer was implemented allowing documents to be read offline but not edited. A few days later, the company developed a bundle of additional features including pagination, headers and footers and spell-check in 43 languages.

In addition to Zoho, many other free office suites have been recently released in the hopes of attracting a massive online audience. Buzzword was developed by Adobe and uses an AIR developer platform to enable similar editing features. Thinkfree is another online office suite that was recently released as a way to edit Microsoft Office documents while offline. (Source: venturebeat.com)

Zoho is part of the business software company AdventNet and is known for the number and frequency of products it releases, ranging from project management to presentation software.

Judging from the sheer quantity of products recently released, many believe that AdventNet is hoping to make "Zoho" a household name in the very near future.