Google snaps up Writely

Since its introduction last August, Writely has acquired a devoted following. For those not familiar with it, Writely bills itself as 'The Web Word Processor'. Users create, edit, and store documents via a web browser interface with a word processor feel. Documents can be stored on Writely or on a local machine, and the application can handle Word and OpenOffice.org documents.

In a posting on Google Blog, Google let it be known that it had acquired Writely earlier this week for an undisclosed amount. Current users are still able to use the service, but those wanting to sign up for Writely will be disappointed, as new registrations are not being accepted until Writely is moved to Google's software architecture.

Writely has been in beta since its appearance last summer. It has been a free service, although Upstartle, the small development firm that created it has made it clear that some sort of fee structure would be implemented once the beta was over. Some users have hailed it as a Microsoft Word killer, which is a bit of an exaggeration. However, Writely does demonstrate the degree to which web applications have evolved, to the point where it's no longer outside to realm of possibility to conceive of some very popular desktop applications being challenged and even supplanted by web-based application.