If you and your friend are working on the same file - a document or an excel sheet say. How you work simultaneousely ? Normal method is to keep mailing each other. What if two people want to update at the same time ?
Do you work on same documents at home and from office using different computers ? Each time you need to take files on pen drive or mail yourself before you leave from one palce to another.
There is a simple solution to save your time. Thanks to cloud computing technology. There is Online Office.
Currently three popular sites are offering it :
Google Docs - http://docs.google.com
Microsoft Office Online - http://workspace.office.live.com/
Zoho - http://www.zoho.com
All three offer similar set of features. Main tools available are docs, excel, ppt. They are not full fledged as your Microsoft Office but they offer lots of features. Microsoft offers uploading of non office files as well where as google provides folders to organize your documents. Zoho is another service having its own plus minus points. Also there is a fascillity of uploading existing files online,.
A main advantage of using online office is its ability to share. Its just click, enter email address and done. Both of you can edit the document almost simultaneously. Also, there is no threat of loosing all your documents if your hard drive crashes some day. Everything rests safely on cloud. Also, you can access them from your mobile as well .. but with very minimal features.
Try it out and if you have some feedback, do share it with providers.