A great little online word processor, Buzzword does have a few flaws that keep it from being seriously considered as a replacement for Microsoft Word at the office. An excellent choice for those that just need something to type out letters, but those that spend much of their day in and out of their word processor will want to wait until more features make their way into Buzzword.
Pros
- Fantastic interface that is very simple to use
- Includes a great way to leave comments to yourself or to those sharing the document
- Keeps track of document history allowing you to revert back to a previous version
Cons
- Lacks custom folders
- Only seven fonts to choose from
- Can't indent only the first sentence of a paragraph
- No print layout view
Features
- Includes all the basic functionality like support for lists, images, tables, and links
- Inline spell checker that highlights misspellings as you type them
- Save documents to your computer as a Microsoft Word, Rich Text, HTML or plain text document
Buzzword - Whats To Like
Because Buzzword is a Flash application, it has a very clean interface that feels more like a desktop word processor than a web-based word processor. This makes it very easy to use.
The commenting system is really neat. Just highlight some text and click on the comment button to leave a comment. When you click on an existing comment, the document darkens except for the portion related to the comment.
The ability to view the history of a document and bring up past version is also very nice. It makes for a nice backup system, and allows you to do some experimenting within the document knowing that you can get a previous version back.
Buzzword - What's Not To Like
While the comments are great, what is missing is a way to turn them off temporarily. There isn't much in the way of customization besides turning inline spelling on or off, and there isn't a print layout view.
And, while you can choose indention for a paragraph, you cannot choose just to indent the first line of the paragraph.
The limited number of fonts might also be a major drawback to someone who really likes to mix things up.
But the number one thing is the lack of custom folders. Buzzword can arrange documents alphabetically, by author, by number of pages, and other ways, but the user is unable to create their own folders. This would be a major drawback to anyone who creates a lot of documents, especially if their documents belong to multiple categories.
Buzzword - The Bottom Line
It's a great start as an online word processor, and the perfect word processor for the home, but it's not quite ready to take on the office, or even the home-office. But add in custom folders, a dozen more fonts, and a print layout view, and Buzzword will buzz to the top of the list of free word processors.
