web apps - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• One missed email and Google Inbox will be in trouble

  People may feel overwhelmed by the deluge of email arriving in their inboxes, but will they trust Google to show them the most important messages?

• Twitter's slipping user growth spooks investors

  Twitter Wednesday reported that fourth quarter sales more than doubled over the past year, but the company nevertheless spooked investors by acknowledging a slowdown in new user growth and in user engagement.

• Ad blockers: A solution or a problem?

  Ad blockers can make websites cleaner and faster for users, but they can also take a nasty bite out of advertising revenue. How popular are they, and what can site publishers do about them?

• Perspective: What's Microsoft's Office Web apps strategy?

  Microsoft's addition of real-time collaboration to its free Office Web Apps last week was necessary in the short term to counter Google Docs, analysts said.

• Getting around Google+: A guide to the basics

  In the two years it's been around, Google+ has both grown and changed. In the first of three "how-to" guides, we tell you how to get started.

• With Chromecast, Google reveals Chrome as its strategic big gun

  Chrome is Google and Google is Chrome. The Chrome browser is Google's most potent strategic weapon, a former Microsoft program manager says.

• Microsoft's ambivalence about Office on the Web gives Apple shot with iWork on iCloud

  Almost as an afterthought, Apple has announced it was working on browser-based versions of its iWork productivity applications, a move one analyst said challenged Microsoft's Office behemoth.

• The social network wars are over. The winner: email!

  With every new social network and social service, with every new instant and not-so-instant way to communicate, email rises in importance. Columnist Mile Elgan explains how innovation has transformed email into the best social network.

• When Google and Microsoft feud, customers pay the price

  The long-running war between Google and Microsoft may never have a winner, according to an analyst, but it definitely has a loser: customers.

• Opinion: More innovation means less control. Is that bad?

  Innovation in mobile computing, search and social media increasingly means taking control away from users, but at what cost?

• Choosing an open-source CMS, part 1: Why we use Drupal

  In the first part of a three-part series, we look at two companies that have chosen Drupal as their content management system.

• Office 365 Home Premium review: Is Office better by subscription?

  Office 365 Home Premium, Microsoft's new subscription-based version of Office 2013, lets you use your applications anywhere. But does it really cost less than the client version?

• Free online productivity apps available now

  I'm looking forward to <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/tags/Microsoft+Corporation.html">Microsoft</a>'s <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/168277/office_2010_most_innovations_are_online.html?tk=rel_news">browser-based edition of Office</a>. While the company isn't leading the trend to cloud-based apps, it's certainly in the middle of the movement. Microsoft's suite will be released next year, but you can save money by accessing online office-style apps right now. In-browser productivity suites are typically free. Plus, I like them for lightweight systems, such as netbooks, where Microsoft's desktop suite feels too bloated for even typing.