ThinkFree launches office suite for Netbooks

ThinkFree, a company that specializes in "next-gen" office productivity solutions, announced Tuesday that it has launched its ThinkFree Netbook solution, which will deliver word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications for Netbooks running Intel's Atom chipsets, like the Asus Eee PC or the Acer Aspire One.

According to ThinkFree, its Netbook Edition offers a simplified user interface and compatibility with Microsoft Office 2007 files. Most importantly, the software is optimized for a small screen and features integration with ThinkFree's online service that allows users to collaborate with each other and synchronize documents on-the-go.

The Eee PC has another office productivity suite.

(Credit: Asus)

"In today's digital world, document collaboration and real-time synchronization is a vital part of staying on top of business," Su Jin Kim, ThinkFree's CEO, said in a statement. "Netbook users are demanding applications that are built to not only meet, but make the most of, the unique characteristics of this new device category (and) Netbook OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) can now offer their customers just that by pre-installing a customized, device-tailored version of ThinkFree Netbook Edition."

ThinkFree isn't alone in the market for Netbook office applications. Asus Eee PCs ship with Sun Microsytems' StarOffice (download) installed, and even Open Office (download) can be downloaded onto Netbooks. And as long as users have an Internet connection handy, they can perform office productivity tasks on services like Zoho and Google Docs.

ThinkFree's Netbook Edition is available for Windows XP, Vista, Linux, and Mac OS X and will work fine on 800x480 and 1,024x600 displays. A free trial copy of the software can be downloaded now on the company's site.

[hightechnh]

Has anyone actually seen any of these netbooks?

I'm very interested in them....but Best Buy, Circuit City etc...don't carry them.

Being a touch typist...I really need to touch the keyboard before buying one.

Any Ideas?

[humanssssss]

Would you buy it if it costs $3,000?

You should specify how much you are willing to pay.

[sharmajunior]

They have it at Newegg.com, they have a new section over at bestbuy.com, i think you can look at them in store as well. I haven't seen any recently, but they just might be on the way.

[hnygrl412]

I actually touched one over at Best Buy just yesterday, and the keyboard, while not the size of a standard keyboard, is pretty large. I was able to use the keyboard comfortably.

I touched/played with the one with the 10 inch screen. It's really nice, and now I KNOW I'm gonna get one.

That one was a celeron processor and way too darn slow, so I'm going for the Atom processor and the 2gb ram one.

[gggg sssss]

for ther same ( OR SO) PRICE YOU CAN GET A REAL dELL. wHAT IS TEH POINT?

[Scott Gardener]

I think Google beat them to it. It's called Google Docs. They're called NetBooks for a reason--to let servers do all the work.