Last month I gave you a glimpse into Zoho and the Writer application, which is part of its online productivity suite. While there were some promising features contained in Writer, it’s clear that there are still some bugs to be worked out if Zoho wants to tout it as a complete application. Now I want to give you my take on Google Documents, with some specific focus on its word processing capability.

You’ll notice immediately that Google Docs has significantly less options than Zoho when it comes to online productivity. I expect, however, that the crew in Mountain View, CA will be unrolling new features for Docs in the upcoming months. With Microsoft recently announcing its intentions to develop “lite” versions of its Office suite for free online use, one can only assume that Google will beef up their offerings to compete.

The first thing that stood out to me is that, unlike Zoho, all of Google’s productivity options are interwoven into one interface at which you choose a specific type of document (word processing document, presentation, spreadsheet, or form) you want to create. I like the layout here. The ability to see all the documents I have created at a glance is a nice feature.

Given that search is Google’s bread and butter, the ability to sort documents by type as well as search for a document by specific text contained within it should come as no real surprise. For users that create voluminous amounts of work, this feature alone is nearly reason enough to migrate to Google Docs exclusively.

Like Zoho, Google Docs is powered by a robust AJAX backend structure. Unlike Zoho, Google Docs actually works within Safari, which is evidence to me that the developers have a somewhat stronger grasp on web standards and how to effectively harness all of the potential that the AJAX language possesses. That’s right, I’m giving Google cool points because their productivity suite actually works on my Apple web browser. Deal with it. :)

Google’s “less is more” philosophy when it comes to application development couldn’t be any more evident than it is with the word processing component of Docs. Some would call it a minimalist approach, but to me it borders upon the edge of barebones in all honesty. The mere 11 fonts included within Docs make the 24 in Zoho writer look like a veritable motherload of typefaces. The interface is bland and uninspiring. I’m not asking for rainbows and butterflies, but I think a screen that doesn’t immediately depress me isn’t too much to hope for in a word processor -- particularly a web-based one.

There aren’t too many instances where I feel like Google completely misses the ball, but there is no reason that tabs couldn’t be implemented in similar fashion to Zoho writer. Switching between windows in Docs is tenuous, cumbersome, and irritating. In my opinion this is a feature that should be implemented poste-haste. There’s nothing wrong with stealing someone else’s idea if it’s a really good idea (see also: Microsoft) and makes sense as a feature for your user base.

Sharing is nice, though. You can see changes made in real-time, which is one of the real advantages to the AJAX backend. You can share a document with any of your Google contacts or invite those that aren’t by sending them an e-mail invitation to collaborate. This is probably the single feature that currently draws people to Google Docs, and it’s not difficult to imagine why. It does wonders for the editing process.

The only view option I really like with Google Docs is fixed-width, as it allows me to get a feel of how my document is laid out on the page. There are also options under the “Edit” menu to view your document in HTML and CSS. These are both great features for getting a quick look at web edits without having to go through the trouble of uploading the changes to your web server and refresh the page. I like this a lot.

It’s so hard to declare a winner between Google Docs and Zoho’s productivity suite. There are things I love and despise about both of them. In the end, I think I have to give the slight edge to Google Docs as it has complete functionality on all browsers -- something Zoho hasn’t accomplished as of yet.