Buzzword: Pretty, Slick, and Leaving You Wanting More

One of the hardest things about the writing I do here at Profy is that I end up trying WAY more cool services than I probably would try otherwise, leaving me with too many choices at times when it comes to online apps. I'm generally the type of person who finds a service who does what I need and makes me happy, and there I stay. But I've become fascinated with the concept of a web office suite, and usually jump at whatever beta invite comes along. For the most part, I find things that are okay, but every once in a while, I find a slick new service that really tempts me to switch yet again. The latest is Buzzword.

Buzzword is in preview only right now, with an anticipated launch date sometime this fall. As you may assume from the name, it's not an entire office suite. The folks at Virtual Ubiquity have decided to stick with just one thing and make it well, and from the looks of it, they are doing exactly that.

Many web office productivity apps are simplified to keep them lean, fast, and easy to use. Buzzword takes the opposite approach: stick with one thing and toss in all the features people want in an online product.

I'm a writer, so when it comes to an office suite, it's pretty obvious that the word processor is the app I'm going to use most. The main reason that so many folks are tied to Microsoft Word is because of the need for features like commenting and revision history and image handling. Buzzword has EVERY SINGLE ONE of these features, and a darn pretty interface to boot. Aside from a limited number of fonts, I haven't found anything that Buzzword can't do that I need for writing and editing. Even the document handler is pretty, with multiple sort options like document length, edit time, upload time, author, and the standard alphabetical order, all with easy-to-find headings. Buzzword also gives you an indicator for a document's status, letting you know if the document you have open has been edited since you opened it, or since you last opened it.

I'll be watching for this release with baited breath, and hope to convert clients who rely on the "Microsoft or else" mantra. If Buzzword works as well as it looks in the full release, I think I'll have found a better solution than mailing docs back and forth. Now if they'd like to work on an image editor or a spreadsheet program next, I have a few suggestions…