Making a successful move to cloud-based computing ought to be transparent. I figure I’ll have done it right if nobody realizes I’m doing anything different. I’ll have to find a cloud-based alternative for all the software I’d been using. To top it off, I want them all to be free.
E-mail
E-mail was easiest. I’d long ago stopped using Outlook as an e-mail client in favor of Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo accounts.
Office / Productivity Suite
An office suite was next. I’ve used both Microsoft Live Office and Google Docs. Lately I’ve gone almost exclusively to Google Docs for two reasons:
I uploaded all my documents, spreadsheets and presentations into my Google Docs directory, making sure to select “Convert documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and drawings to the corresponding Google Docs formats” (more on finding places to store files online in a later post). When I need to share those documents with others, I can send them from my Google Docs folder and specify that they be sent in any one of the Microsoft Office formats, OpenOffice, or as a pdf. They open up just as if they’d been authored in those formats so Google docs passes my test that nobody have a clue I’m using a web-based solution.
Notes
I’ve tried a couple of online solutions for note-taking. Initially I installed QuickNote, but was quickly disappointed to find it actually stores notes locally, not in the cloud. Additionally, QuickNote can access my browsing history and data on all websites I visit. I wasn’t comfortable with that.
Springpad is what I’ve been using for quick notes. With both the app and the chrome extension installed, I can check my notes (stored on my Springpad.com account) with a simple click of an icon in Chrome right next to the tools icon.
Photo Editing
Picnik is the only online service directly connected to my Picasa album. If all you need to do is crop, resize or make minor adjustments to color or contrast, then Picnik is entirely adequate, but Picnik can’t do layers, select specific areas, apply gradients, or any of the other more advanced photo editing I’d been doing in Photoshop.
Aviary on the other hand, does a lot more. The typical, non-graphic artist used to Photoshop will find Aviary just about as capable. Using it to edit photos in my Picasa album takes a few extra steps, but it’s doable.
When you start the Aviary app (and it’s amazing when you realize everything is happening in a browser), it gives you the option to open an existing file or start from scratch. Selecting the open file option, you’ve got the choice of browsing to a file on your computer (something I’m choosing never to do for my experiment), or (wonder of wonders) supply a URL for the image you want to import and work on. So I found the URL for the image I wanted to work on in my Picasa album and Aviary opened it right up.
The problem for me came when I was done with my photo editing. While Aviary can import images from a URL, it can’t save those images to Picasa. The only option is to download your work to a local directory or save it as an Aviary creation. Because I’m working on an Ubuntu machine, I also had the option to save things to my UbuntuOne account, which, while technically cloud storage, still felt a bit like cheating.
Other Online Apps
Gliffy.Com - Flow charts, network diagrams, Venn diagrams, floor plans, etc. (free to try for 30 days, afterwards the account downgrades to a more bare-bones free account limited to 5 diagrams or you can upgrade to a paid account for $5/month. If you like Google drawings, don’t bother with this one, but if you need starter templates, take a look at Gliffy.
E-mail was easiest. I’d long ago stopped using Outlook as an e-mail client in favor of Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo accounts.
Office / Productivity Suite
An office suite was next. I’ve used both Microsoft Live Office and Google Docs. Lately I’ve gone almost exclusively to Google Docs for two reasons:
1. I like the single sign-on. Signing into Google gives me access to my Gmail, Google Docs, Picasa, my blogs, and more.
2. Storage. So long as I use Google docs format for my files, none of them count against my 1 Gb storage, so I theoretically have unlimited storage for documents, spreadsheets, etc, so long as I keep them in Google’s format.
I uploaded all my documents, spreadsheets and presentations into my Google Docs directory, making sure to select “Convert documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and drawings to the corresponding Google Docs formats” (more on finding places to store files online in a later post). When I need to share those documents with others, I can send them from my Google Docs folder and specify that they be sent in any one of the Microsoft Office formats, OpenOffice, or as a pdf. They open up just as if they’d been authored in those formats so Google docs passes my test that nobody have a clue I’m using a web-based solution.
Notes
I’ve tried a couple of online solutions for note-taking. Initially I installed QuickNote, but was quickly disappointed to find it actually stores notes locally, not in the cloud. Additionally, QuickNote can access my browsing history and data on all websites I visit. I wasn’t comfortable with that.
Springpad is what I’ve been using for quick notes. With both the app and the chrome extension installed, I can check my notes (stored on my Springpad.com account) with a simple click of an icon in Chrome right next to the tools icon.
Photo Editing
Picnik is the only online service directly connected to my Picasa album. If all you need to do is crop, resize or make minor adjustments to color or contrast, then Picnik is entirely adequate, but Picnik can’t do layers, select specific areas, apply gradients, or any of the other more advanced photo editing I’d been doing in Photoshop.
Aviary on the other hand, does a lot more. The typical, non-graphic artist used to Photoshop will find Aviary just about as capable. Using it to edit photos in my Picasa album takes a few extra steps, but it’s doable.
When you start the Aviary app (and it’s amazing when you realize everything is happening in a browser), it gives you the option to open an existing file or start from scratch. Selecting the open file option, you’ve got the choice of browsing to a file on your computer (something I’m choosing never to do for my experiment), or (wonder of wonders) supply a URL for the image you want to import and work on. So I found the URL for the image I wanted to work on in my Picasa album and Aviary opened it right up.
The problem for me came when I was done with my photo editing. While Aviary can import images from a URL, it can’t save those images to Picasa. The only option is to download your work to a local directory or save it as an Aviary creation. Because I’m working on an Ubuntu machine, I also had the option to save things to my UbuntuOne account, which, while technically cloud storage, still felt a bit like cheating.
Other Online Apps
Gliffy.Com - Flow charts, network diagrams, Venn diagrams, floor plans, etc. (free to try for 30 days, afterwards the account downgrades to a more bare-bones free account limited to 5 diagrams or you can upgrade to a paid account for $5/month. If you like Google drawings, don’t bother with this one, but if you need starter templates, take a look at Gliffy.
Check out Tim Conneally's article "A look at Web app alternatives to the most popular software" at http://goo.gl/ZYYaP for even more useful web applications.
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