Web Office vendor Zoho continues its rapid pace of product upgrades and new releases, with the next version of Zoho Show – its browser-based presentations software. The app has a brand new user interface and a bunch of new features.
The UI changes focus mainly on improving the editing of presentations, which Zoho says now “matches that of its desktop counterparts” (by which we assume it means Microsoft Powerpoint). Also importing presentations has been upgraded. The video embedded below gives a good overview of the changes.
I’m not a big user of Powerpoint, but in my tests I was impressed by the slickness of the Ajax. I was told that a lot of work went into that, especially for compatibility with VML (IE browser) and SVG (Firefox and others).
What makes Zoho Show different from Powerpoint are features like the version control, sharing, publishing it to be viewable online by anyone, and embedding in a blog or website. These are all common collaboration benefits for Web Office tools. But there’s some nice extra touches with this new version of Show – e.g. chat has been integrated, so when you’re collaborating with others on a presentation you can discuss it in real time. Zoho Meeting has also been integrated, enabling you to share your whole desktop.
Overall, Zoho Show 2.0 is slick and compares well with Powerpoint; and has added collaboration features. Plus, not for the first time, it’s one-upped Google – whose online presentations software is basic by comparison.
As we mentioned in our Web Office 2007 Year in Review post last week, Zoho is arguably the most complete and full-featured Web Office suite on the market. Throughout 2007 the company has announced a steady stream of new products and upgrades. We think Zoho’s suite, called Zoho Business, will hold the key for the company going forward – as it continues to integrate its many products and features into a compelling whole.
Disclosure: Zoho is a RWW sponsor
