[Proper Disclusure - this post was written using Zoho Writter]

Last week I wrote about online Spreadsheets. If you recall, the best and final round was between Google and Zoho and Google came up as the winner. When it comes to word processing though, Zoho Writer is my personal favorite , hands down. If I could use only one word to describe why it would be maturity. Zoho writer is simply a mature online word processor. Many vendors face a creativity block when it comes to migrating traditional desktop applications to the web. I noticed it with many spreadsheet applications that were simply mimicking excel. Zoho seems to have passed that hurdle long ago and this is all over the app - from the big feature through the “little things” that make the difference.

Let’s start with the overall feeling. Zoho Writer loads up quickly and makes you feel like you are using desktop software. You get oriented immediately with familiar looking toolbars on top and with an action dashboard on the left. The toolbars offer the exact blend of options required for editing a document in an online environment. From basic (alignment, bullets and numbering, spelling) to more advanced (insert functions, special characters , tables). The left hand dashboard offers easy navigation through shared documents, personalized templates and online storage. We talk a lot about the “offline problem” when web services are concerned. Zoho is well aware of the problem and offers back up options in a number of ways, from emailing to local saving of the file in a wide array of formats - Word, PDF, Text and HTML. They all work well and I really appreciated the PDF option.

Zoho has spiced Zoho Writer with the right dosage of web ingredients. You can easily post a document directly to a blog (Blogger, Live journal, TypePad and WordPress). Neat! You can create your own web templates very easily - just use “Save as template”, no need to go through the “xxx.dot” horror! You can also tag your document the “web 2.0″ way. Gil and I did experience a few hiccups until we figured how to use the sharing properly. The locking mechanism is not intuitive enough, Gil didn’t get the sharing invite to his Google account and we had to spend good 15 minutes before we figured it out. Note to Zoho - work on it!

Then come the little things that make the real difference. The overall user experience which is fantastic. Simple but not style free. The Spell checker that works so nicely. The autosaving you don’t need to remember. The emoticons, history, very functional bottom toolbar, right bland of AJAX….I’m sold!

Yes, Zoho Writer is my Word processor from now. I only wonder how the guys at Zoho plan to keep up with Google once their word processing is out (and it will be out). Zoho offers a full suite of online office apps which I haven’t checked yet - Planner, CRM, Chat, Calendar, Notes. Perhaps the answer is there. I am a little mind boggled by it all being provided for free, but I certainly hope the folks at Zoho have a plan. I’d really like them to stick around.