Abstract:

This study reviews four different word processors: MS Word, Google Docs, Zoho Writer,
and Wiki Program, then compares all four based on their ability to import/export
documents, ease of use, their formatting and word count options, grammar and spell
checking, and finally their cost. The goal of this study is to define which Word Processor
improves the quality of work being done the most. More effective uses of word
processing as an instructional tool might include adapting instruction to software
strengths and adding metacognitive prompts to the writing program.

Introduction:

Word processing is a bridge that provides lifelong educational benefits to its users in a form of rich
and smooth flowing text. A word processor, previously known as “document preparation system” is a
computer application used for the creation of any sort of printable documents. These Word
Processors are divided in two types; Web based such as Google Doc, Zoho Writer and Wiki
Program; and non-web based like MS Word. The web based processors are fairly new on the market
compared to MS Word, however these companies has taken steps to broaden the reach of its Web-
based features in order to compete with Microsoft Corp. Word processors have numerous purposes
of employment in the business field, as well as for the educational and personal use. In the business
world, companies use some of the mentioned processors to write memos, letterheads, and
reference documents.

History:

Word Perfect, XyWrite, Microsoft Word (along with personal computers) competed in the 1980s
against dedicated word process machintes. Early word processing software required users to
memorize semi-mnemonic key combinations rather than pressing keys labeled "copy" or "bold."
Development of higher-resolution monitors allowed these programs to provide limited typographical
features such as bold and italics, indentation, justification and margins. The mid-to-late 1980s saw
the spread of laser printers, a "typographic" approach to word processing, and of true WYSIWYG
(What you see is what you get) bitmap displays with multiple fonts, Postscript, and graphical user
interfaces. Standalone word processors tried to adapt by getting smaller and replacing their CRTs
with small character-oriented LCD displays. Some models also had computer-like features such as
floppy disk drives and the ability to output to an external printer. They also got a name change, now
being called "electronic typewriters" and typically occupying a lower end of the market, selling for
under $200 USD. Soon after the introduction of MacWrite and Microsoft Word, the dedicated word
processors became museum pieces. 

Body:

MS Word is a program widely used by users around the globe. It has various formatting choices that
user can select in order to achieve wanted document design. MS Word 2003/2007 had the biggest
variaty of options to format, edit and insert different applications. In other words, MS office in general
is still a more complete program. The only disadvantage of MS Word would be the amount of work
and time a group has to put in to save documents then e-mail them to all other group members.
However, once you purchase the MS Office program, it is available on a laptop or computer even if
there is no wireless connection or if the internet gets disconnected. As of now, MS Word remains the
most widely used program opposed to the online programs because it is cheaper and almost
available at all times. Some of MS Word formating commands were choosing font, font style, size
and color, as well as bullets and numbering, borders and shading, document themes, formatting of
selected text are some of the choices offered by Word.
Zoho writer formatting palette offers a decent array of choices. It has more than 15 font selections in
addition to icons for special characters and emotions. Basically, offered selections are very similar to
those in Word, and it is easy to find them. However, there is a difference between Zoho and Word.
Regardless of the license cost, Word is still used widely. That is because Word does not require
internet connection, which is not situation with the Zoho. However, if one wants to use Zoho, he/she
will need decent internet connection. On the other hand, Zoho frequently offers updates, and one of
the recent offerings was offline editing capabilities. That means that users are able to view and edit
documents offline, but they need to have Google Gears plug-in installed on their browser. So, one
may choose to install plug-in and use Zoho, or to stick to Word.
As a free program, Google Docs could be considered as a good substitute for MS Word. Basically,
Google Docs is an elementary word processor, which includes font control, seven text sizes,
highlighting, lists (using numbers or one of three bullet styles), indents and outdents, and alignment
(left, center, right). One can choose from among three heading styles; single, 1.5, double, and triple
line spacing; and superscript, subscript, and strikeout properties. In comparison with Word, Google
Docs is an online program, which requires a good internet connection.
Wiki program has only several formatting features that other programs have, such as font style,
orientation, bullets and numbering and they are limited (such as number of different fonts, colors,
etc.) in comparison to other programs. It also requires decent internet connection.

Grammar, spell checking and word count optionsMS Word has very good grammar and spell
checking and they work simultaneously. When the dictionary recognizes a word as misspelled, the
word is underlined with a wavy red line. One can correct misspelled text through the Quick menu or
through a dialog box. We can also turn this feature off, and Spell Check will not run as we work on
our document. The feature can be easily activated. The situation is the same with Grammar
checking. Word counting can be easily found under the Tools option. Zoho writer offers spell
checking option where questionable words are highlighted. By clicking the flagged word, we can
choose suggested alternate spellings. Unfortunately, there is no grammar checking. Whenever we
save a document, the word count is shown at the bottom right corner. It shows number of words and
characters. Google Docs spell checker highlights errors in yellow; right-click can be used for
previewing the suggested spellings. There is also no grammar checking. Word count option is
located in the File drop-down menu. It counts words, characters (no spaces), characters (with
spaces), paragraphs, sentences and pages. Wiki program also has a spell checking option. Spelling
errors are highlighted and by clicking on the suggested word, one can easily change it. There is no
grammar checking option. Classic word counter is also missing, but there is a “change tracking”
option, which means that program tracks the count of the added and deleted words.

Importing & Exporting

MS Word: was more practical, due to our familiarity and experience with the program, to
import/export HTML type files pictures and excel spreadsheets, compared to the other three sites
which were online documents.
Zoho: the easiest of all four to import URL format by clicking on "import" then you can import a
document or a URL in different file types such as html, doc, sxw (open office), odt, rtf, jpg, gif, png
and text files. Also you can send Word / HTML document to your account by emailing them as an
attachment to :
e6gA3Agr862WJ9A@docs.zohowriter.com . Wiki (wetpaint) offered the option of bookmarking the
document created on Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon using a fast and pratical way to export
documents to be shared.
Google docs is somewhat easy to work with as well using the "share" and "publish" buttons to export
HTML documents and share them with other group members. As for importing, numerous options
are available through the insert tab in the toolbar menu.
Sharing and collaboration of documents within a small group
MS Word 2003/2007: If more than two people are working on a particular document, using MS Word
would not prove beneficial to the group. Since only one person can make corrections at any given
time with MS Word, the program lends itself to human errors when multiple people need to edit and
re-save at the next revision so everyone in the group can know if they are working on the latest
version of the document.
When it comes to sharing and collaboration then Ms Word2003/2007 is definitely not the best option.
It has a drawback of not having a real time editing so people can not see/edit the shared document
in real time.
Google Docs is a better tool compared to MS Word as far as sharing and collaboration is concerned.
You can share the document and can give the permission to edit the shared document and also you
can limit the sharing by restricting it to “share as viewer” in which the viewer can not edit the shared
document.
Zoho writer is a better tool than MS Word and Google Docs. It has got real time editing and has the
option of limiting the access of the shared document to certain people. One can see who all is
editing the document and who is viewing the shared document. On top of this Zoho writer extends
mobile support, adds offline capability for windows mobile using Google gears.

Wiki program is good for sharing and collaboration. Its easy to edit the shared document. It has got
real time editing. One can control the sharing and collaborationby limiting the sharing rights.

Cost of using these programs (Assuming computers and internet service are already
paid for)

With MS Word, an initial capital investment would be needed to purchase the software and
associated licensing fees (if applicable). Besides this, one could also argue some intangible costs
such as: the wasted e-mail space taken up by dozens of document iterations, lost productivity when
modifying or using the wrong revision of document, and business repercussions when the wrong or
incorrect revision of document is sent out and made public. Choosing Google Docs, Zoho Writer, or
Wiki for collaboration purposes requires no initial capital investment. The costs associated with using
any of these three programs will come from the work hours associated with learning how to use
any/all of the programs properly. Google Docs and Zoho Writer would probably take the same
amount of time as they are pretty close to each other in terms of functionality. Since Wiki could be
used for project management type activities as well as document collaboration, it would require
slightly more time for users to get familiar with and effectively use. Once the initial time investments
are made with any of these programs, groups would probably save time (and ultimately money)
when using any of the three internet based collaboration tools rather than MS Word.

Additional Topics

Zoho writer proved to be temperamental at first due to the issues our group had with
everyone being able to view the group document. When the document was first created
and sharing rights were granted to everyone in the group, only the members who were
already registed with Zoho could view & edit the document. The members who registed
with Zoho after being grated sharring rights were unable to view the document or the
other collaborators. To get around this problem, sharing rights had to be granted once
again to those collaborators.
Personal Experience in Ease of Use, Document Sharing and Collaboration

MS Word 2003/2007 :
Bryan Gall: With the vast amount of experience I have using MS Word, I feel it is very easy to use. I
know where everything I need to use is located and there are plenty of options available to me. I will
say that when I upgraded to Word 2007 it took me awhile to find everything again since the toolbars
changed a little. However, once I figured out where everything was at in the new version I liked it
more than the old version. Sharing and collaboration obviously aren't as easy in my experience as I
am finding out they are in the web based word processors. Multiple people can't edit at the same
time and you have to either save the file on a shared network and send others the copy when you
make changes.

Leby Sassya: I always chose Microsoft product for one reason or another. I have been a fan of what
Microsoft product can provide, "if we ever get to use all their features". Like I mentioned before if I
move to a different town and I am starting up from zero, I will definitely use Google document or
Zoho, not very much wiki wetpaint. It gives you enough to be at the start level maybe a bit more, but
it takes a lot to adjust or manipulate a document were as, everything in MS Word is right there for
you. It is a bit harder to adopt another program when you feel that you know a lot about another, if
there no reason to change why should we. Change is good; but imagine that everything is constantly
changing, when do you have time to not worry about what is next.

It is true that Microsoft is showing its age, but as far of the price I think somehow someone needs to
pay for their programmers to develop a more advance software all the time.

Chris Allen: Until participating in InfoTechTools, all of my word processing was completed using MS
Word. Because of this, I have to say that this program is the easiest to use out of the whole group of
word processors. It contains just about every function that is needed when drafting/editing a
document. One can add and remove the tool bars that they so choose in order to personalize the
program to their specific needs. However, when it comes to ease of use for collaboration purposes,
MS Word really falls short of the competition. Anytime I have to work on a document with others, I
have to be very careful that I am working on the latest and greatest version of the document; and I
cannot work on the document while someone else is editing it; I can only view as "read only". As far
as sharing an MS Word document with someone else, the only way I know of is to send a copy of it
to them. Once that happens revision control of the document becomes impossible to manage.

Dimitrios Hazimihalis; MS Word is the easiest word processing program that I have used. It is also
the program that I have the most experience with. I use this program for"print" opeartions mostly and
"read only" documents for sharing.

Snezana Aleksic: I am Word user for years, and I am used to the features offered by Word. It also
provides me with the most detailed set of features needed for professional text writing/editing. There
is one disadvantage of MS Word over the Zoho, Google Docs and Wiki that is worth to mention. MS
Word doesn’t have collaboration feature, so working simultaneously on the same documentation is
not possible. User needs to share the document with the other person, and wait until that other
person makes changes and sends the document back. Basically, it is hard to compare MS Word on
one side, and ZohoWriter, Google Docs and Wiki Program on the other side, because MS Word is
not an online tool. User can access documents only from their own computer, which is not the
situation with the other programs that allow user to access, edit and share documents from
anywhere.

Google Docs :
Leby Sassya: It has the same Google interface the simple look. It provides many options for
collaboration and publishing. I’m not a huge fan of the interface for actually editing documents, but it
works well enough. Because I am used to use MS Word kind off miss a decent toolbar. With Google
you can open only one document at a time. Opening a document from the main start page opens a
new window with that document in it. As far as I can tell there is not simple way to have multiple
documents open in tabs like some of there other online word processors. It is not a very user friendly
and it does not offer the help needed by right clicking but a person needs to open a certain menu to
find what is needed.

Hadi Chammas: In my opinion, Google Doc was a useful and powerful tool. It was easy to use, and
faster than the other word processors analyzed in this assignment. When having a fairly good
internet connection, this program automatically saves changes and updates what other people are
editing as well. It worked best with more people editing the same document at the same time.

Bryan Gall: With the little experience I now have using Google Docs, I feel that is easy to use. Most
of the needed options are available even though it doesn't have the huge variety that MS Word does.
Sharing and collaborating is very easy to do using Google Docs. When someone else is editing at
the same time it lets you know. Allowing multiple people to edit the document at the same time is a
nice feature. You can see what other people are doing to the document simultaneously.

Chris Allen: Google docs proved to be a very good word processing tool when collaboration was the
main objective. My favorite thing about it is the fact that the document automatically updates every
so often when you (or others) are editing it so you are not required to "refresh" your screen when
others make changes so you can see the changes. When simply drafting a document w/o
collaborative purposes, I think Google Docs lacks some of the functions (such as zoom in & out,
outline views, editing tags, hyperlinking within the document for tables of contents and tables of
figures). I would only use Google Docs for simple documents that are short in length and do not
require much formatting.

Dimitrios Hazimihalis: Google docs is a very good word processing tool. I haven't worked with it
extensively to utilize its full potential. However, I believe that it does have some very good uses
when collaborating with other colleagues when writing research papers, reports, etc. This is where I
would use this application.

Snezana Aleksic: By researching Google Docs, I realized that offered features are
interesting and very useful to work with. I use Gmail and some other Google
applications, so I also became a fan of the Google Docs. It has a user friendly interface
and basic options that mostly don’t differ from those offered by Word. I like the
collaboration option that allows multiple users to work on the document at the same
time. I tried that along with my group members and it worked very well. The
disadvantage of Google Docs over MS Word is online use. Users must have a decent
internet connection in order to use it.

NAVEEN GENTE: Now after the last two online discussions, I realized some of the features with
Google docs, is pretty impressing. I would like to change my opinion this time on word processors,
from MS word to Google docs, because even though I have good acquaintance with MS word, it
lacks some the good features like online editing, that too by good number of people at the same time
and save them online. In case of MS word it is like one can make their own changes and then
upload them online, which others have to download and make changes. One other impressing
feature with Google docs is it saves and shows the updates without any effort from the users within a
fraction of the task completion, where as in WIKI wetpaint, it takes too much time, we need to refresh
it every time to see the updates, which is an irritating part after using Google docs. Though I am a
word user for quite some time, now I really would like to use Google docs, for many of my future
applications, as it is free of cost (if we won’t consider the internet usage charges ). so, I choose
Google docs now as my word processor.

Zoho writer :

Leby Sassya:
Zoho Writer has a very nice interface. It has a floating toolbar. Along the left side bar is a listing of my
documents. There are options for templates, sharing docs, publishing to blogs, and exporting. It
allows the user to customize how the documents should look like. All of these additional options are
nice, and also has nice features and it simplicity that makes it really the preferred online word
processor. There are tons of options, but they don’t hit you over the head with all of them. The
options are there if you need them, but it still has a clean streamlined interface. The more I use Zoho
Writer the more I find things I like about it. Some of the keyboard shortcuts work such as ctrl+S to
save. It has many options for the text that show up on the right side of the. I think ZOHO is very well
laid out. Documents open in tabs and it is a very quick to respond to commands like saving or
creating a new document. In my experience it is faster to load and respond to my commands than
the other online word processors. ZOHO has a very active team solving people’s questions and
problems “Bugs” since it is still beta Program.

Bryan Gall: The Zoho writer is similar to Google Docs in that is easy to edit the document at the
same time someone else is. You can see what it is they are working on. On the left side of the page
you can see which collaborators are currently online as well as talk with them in a nice chat function.
We used this when we were working at unit of learning 8 as there were three of us editing at the
same time.

Chris Allen: I tried using Zoho writer for collaborating with my group on a document, and I think I
would have much rather used Google Docs. I think this program is modeled after Google Docs, but
when it comes to ease of use, I think it falls short. Zoho is very tempermental; I had a very hard time
editing and formatting text sometimes and other times I didn't. The one good thing I did like about
using Zoho is that I was able to chat with fellow collaborators via texting while working on the
document. This proved quite useful as I did not have to use a separate program to chat; everything
was available in Zoho.

Dimitrios Hazimihalis: I liked the chat function as Bryan and Chris stated above and it is similar to
Google docs. Our group did chat while editing and it made LU8 easier to finish. I would use this in
the similar fashion as Google docs for collaboration on certain projects.

Snezana Aleksic: I have a positive impression about Zoho Writer. It has a user friendly interface and
majority of options that suit my need. There is collaboration option, as well as sharing feature. I don’t
have experience with collaboration feature, but I used chat option with my group members, and that
worked very well. The main disadvantage of Zoho is that it is an online tool and requires constant
high-speed internet connection.

Wiki program :
Hadi Chammas: After meeting on Yugma with my classmates, and trying to create a new document
for Learning Unit 10, I found Wiki Program to be very cumbersome, slow and not very practical.
When more than one person is editing the same document, the changes will take a long time to save
and in some cases it could get lost. One other disadvantage with Wiki is that you can only see other
people's changes when you refresh the page which adds to the inconvenience. The only advantages
i like about Wiki is that it keeps a detailed record of who is making changes to the common shared
document, when the changes are being made, and it provides a word count for each edit.

Bryan Gall: I don't have much experience with Wiki. I like that you can see the document at various
stages before and after each edit is made. The discussion forum is also a nice feature. The sharing
and collaborating functions don't seem to be as good as Google Docs or Zoho.

Chris Allen: As far as using the WetPaint Wiki, I have not had a whole lot of seat-time with this
particular word processing software. However, from what I have experienced, I think that it really
doesn't offer me anything that distinguishes itself from Google Docs or Zoho writer. I do not like
using the Wiki for real-time collaboration because you have to "refresh" your screen every-so-often
to see what others have contributed/changed. I also do not like being prompted with filling out an
editing tag every time I contribute or make a change. The discussion forum is a nice feature, but I
really don't think it is that important. I think Wiki needs to invest more time in the text editing portion
of their site. This program is satisfactory, but I would place it toward the bottom of my usage list.

Dimitrios Hazimihalis: The Wiki program is useful. I too haven't used it enough. I like the easy edit
toolbar, but it doesn't give you many editing options.

Snezana Aleksic: From all aforementioned tools, I was the least impressed by Wiki. It
has the same basic features as these offered by other programs, as well as sharing and
collaboration features. The only reason that I can provide to explain my opinion is that I
liked the interface offered by Google Docs and Zoho Writer better.

Personal Choice for Word Processor

Hadi Chammas: Google Docs

Bryan Gall: Microsoft Word for solo work/Google Docs for group work
Chris Allen: For my particular needs, I still revert back to MS Word. Please see my post on the
discussion forum for supporting details.
Dimitrios Hazimihalis: Microsoft Word for work. Google Docs for collaboration on team projects.
Snezana Aleksic: MS Wordand Google Docs
NAVEEN GENTE: Google Docs and MS word.
Leby Sassya: ZOHO Writer and MS Word.
References

Gilbertson, Scott. "Zoho Adds Support forMS Word 2007 Format."

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2008/02/zoho-writer-add.html (10 April, 2008)
Google Doc. "Google Docs Help Center." http://documents.google.com/support/ (11 April, 2008)
Ragsdale, J. WetPaint Wiki's: The Consumer is in Control."
http://jragsdale.wordpress.com/2007/06/26/wetpaint-wikis-the-consumer-is-in-control/ (10 April,
2008)
Wetpaint. "Tell Me More." http://www.wetpaint.com/page/Tell-Me-More (11 April, 2008)
Wikipedia.org. "Microsoft Word." 12 April, 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms_word (12 April, 2008)
ZOHO Work. Online. "Zoho FAQ's." 2008. http://www.zoho.com/zoho_faq.html (12 April, 2008)