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Ask Download Squad: What are your favorite web-based apps?
We had a great response to last week's question, What apps do you wish were cross-platform?
Among some of the more popular requests were pleas for Windows versions
of Quicksilver, iLife and NetNewsWire (I'd have to agree; I think the
only Windows newsreader that comes close in terms of flexibility and
ease-of-use is FeedDemon). On the Win-to-Mac front, requests included
Visio, Outlook, and the Yahoo Music Engine (I agree on that; in
general, I'd like to see more access to Windows DRM files on the Mac
side, though I'm not holding my breath). Oh, and one person requested
Photoshop on Linux, one that I'd have to agree with as well!This week, we want to visit the world of Web-based apps. Whether you think of them as Web 2.0, web services, Ajax or something else, there's no question that Web-based apps are finally beginning to come of age. From Gmail to Backpack, we're finally seeing some web-based apps challenge desktop programs when it comes to usability and reliability. And while most of us aren't willing to replace Excel with NumSum, many of us have made the transition to Gmail, and have also began to rely on online calendar, address book and to-do services.
So, this week's question: What are your favorite web-based applications? Post your answer in the Comments section below. And, if you'd like to have your question included here, send it to us using this form. We'll post one question each week.
And now a special announcement: Tomorrow, we begin a new series called Free Tech Support. Each day, we'll answer one question about a software feature, from the obvious to the obscure. So, send in your questions, using this form, and we'll do our best to answer them!
Comments
14
Subscribe to commentsJasper CoolinghamNov 29th 2005 6:23AM
My favorite Web app is Quintura Search. It features a context map, multi-engine support and no ads. I downloaded it free from www.quintura.com.
JasonOct 2nd 2005 11:36PM
My fav web-based apps are Blogger and Backpack. I'd love for a Google Calendar app to come out soon.
Why does Ajax (pictured above) have no wiener? Creepy!
Brian POct 3rd 2005 12:11AM
Let's see.....GMail and Backpack are the only two I can think of that I use almost daily. I use a bunch of others sporadically, but those are the two I'd hate to have to live without.
Brian
http://myvogonpoetry.com
http://candyaddict.com
AdamOct 3rd 2005 3:45AM
Gmail is a must.
Google Maps is a pleasure to use. It outclasses any of the desktop based mapping software I've ever used and the satalite view is just fun to play around with.
Meebo is pretty cool on firefox. Pity it doesn't support Opera, though.
scristianOct 3rd 2005 4:53AM
gmail.com and bloglines.com
FabianOct 3rd 2005 5:49AM
Okay I guess I've become quite hooked on that whole Ajax thing - maybe because I need to do lots of things from a lot of different machines.
Okay, the most frequently used app is gmail. It's really great. I'd never have thought that I'd be switching back to a web-based mail account from Thunderbird, but there it is.
Also writely.com is pretty cool, and I want to do some collaborative writing with it in the near future (still have my beta account, thanks to the collaborative review session here :-) ).
Oh and some alpha/proof-of-concept things I've just discovered yesterday are: footoo and apop two small and simple, ajaxified gallery apps. You can find them at: http://www.maxkiesler.com/index.php/weblog/comments/147/
Max has been real nice and sent both examples to me when I asked for it. So far I've been testing Footoo a little and it's really fun :-)
What I'd really like to use is netvibes.com or google personalized start page. But both don't do the job for me at the moment. At netvibes, it is always asking for a password to https://blogger.com (I don't have any clue why) and seems unable to add the downloadsquad rss feed (or any other weblogs.inc blog except engadget which is preselected). It always shows the preview right but is unable to load the content once put on the page.
So if there is some work done on that, I'd be happy to use it as my start page.
Oh and if anyone knows a nice ajax-chat for integration in phpbb2 (like the treehouse chat, that looks good, but isn't available for download :-( ) - please visit my site and drop me line :-)
NAOct 3rd 2005 9:04AM
GMail is a must. Gotta agree about Meebo, I'm about to ditch gaim once Meebo gets a bit more robust.
I've also been looking at Kiko, the calendar. It looks pretty robust too.
NAOct 3rd 2005 9:13AM
Check out Tom Rafery's post about Ajax word processors. He gives the thumbs up to Writely. Its pretty slick and if you don't need all the crazy MS Word functionality, it works well. I've also tried out Num Sum, an online spreadsheet. Seems to do quick easy stuff pretty well.
http://www.tomrafteryit.net/online-ajax-word-processors-compared/
http://blog.nali.org/journal/2005/10/2/other-cool-web-tools.html
Eric JOct 3rd 2005 10:48AM
I use Gmail constantly. One app I haven't seen a lot of publicity for that I love is airset (www.airset.com)
It's an individual and group calendar with To-do lists, contact management, and even a blogging feature.
The UI isn't as slick as Backpack, but I think you get more for free than with BP.
TomOct 3rd 2005 11:03AM
http://www.gmail.com - For email
http://www.rojo.com - RSS feeds
Everyone should also try my new web app :)
http://www.listal.com
Scott SkibellOct 3rd 2005 11:56AM
Bloglines is a real asset for me. I can access my account from multiple pc's and even my Treo. Everything stays in sync too. Cool.
I still prefer Yahoo email over Gmail. I'm hoping the new release will make it a bit easier to use. It's getting a bit long in the tooth but I like the integration with Yahoo toolbar and My Yahoo page.
Another great service, though it isn't cheap, is QuickBase by Intuit. I've built some pretty powerful web-based databases with it. They need to come back out with an individual plan though. Corporate Workgroups are not the only market for them.
Just my $.02
Oscar Alcal?Oct 3rd 2005 12:20PM
I use Gmail and bloglines every single day. I also like backpack and other apps but i donīt use them as often.
AngelOct 4th 2005 1:42PM
Definitely Netvibes and Blinklist. I use both constantly throughout the day. Yahoo Mail (Beta)version has replaced Gmail as my fav web email. I wrote reviews for all three.
Anthony GentavoeOct 5th 2005 8:22AM
I'm a car guy. Without a doubt, my favorite web-based app is Ownersite.com. (http://www.ownersite.com) It's the only web-based application I have ever been willing to pay for.
I've been forced to use Salesforce.com at work. NOT my favorite web-based app by any stretch. If you have a LEAST favorite contest...