Most of us are tied to Microsoft Word for oblique reasons: It’s on the computer at work, people send me Word documents, it has a feature I can’t find elsewhere.Many of us also, I hazard to guess, decry our reliance on this word processor, wishing we could cut the umbilical cord that binds us to Microsoft. It is the same reasoning that makes us wish we could swear off buying Disney DVDs for our kids: They’re good, and there’s no real substitute, but boy I wish I weren’t lining their pockets anymore.

In the world of Web 2.0 — today’s shorthand for using software that lives on the Internet for what were traditionally desktop-bound applications — there is real reason to believe a worthy rival for Word will emerge.One that I have been trying is called Writely. I am not ready to hit the delete button on my Word icon, but this Internet-based program is so good that I can see the potential in the near-term future.

A comparable web service called gOffice is not too far behind.At www.writely.com, you sign in free (most current browsers work there, except Apple’s Safari; Mac users should try the Firefox browser), and within a moment or two, you are creating a document that can be saved or sent in a variety of formats, including HTML for the web and a version that Microsoft Word programs can read.Just as on your PC word processor, you can change fonts and type sizes; boldface and underline text; place pictures; change the background colour; set stylesheets; check the spelling; count the words; and add bullets automatically — all your basic text management tools.

It has all of the basics — but few of the more complicated. It doesn’t have a grammar checker. I couldn’t make the type wrap into newspaper-like columns on a single page. There is no option for "hidden" text or big capitals at the beginning of a paragraph. The font choices are fixed, although there is a nice cross-section of about 20.

The feature limitations can be a blessing in disguise, of course: Microsoft Word is so feature-filled that it has become overly complex, with options upon preferences that many people never use — unless, of course, one of those features happens to be the one you rely on.But Writely isn’t even meant to be a word-processing software replacement. Its goal is something else altogether: to share a text document among several writers or editors who can edit it or collaborate on it.

You can give access to your document to particular people, all of whom can call up the text on the Internet on their own web browsers. A small button at the bottom of the page warns you if one of your invitees is currently changing the document.And since all of the work is done on the Internet, not on your laptop or desktop computer, the files are saved on Writely’s servers. That offers another benefit: You can save a document from home and gain access to it at work, for instance.

Four days after announcing the acquisition of an Austrian firm for $56 million, Wipro Ltd on Thursday said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire mPower Inc., a US-based company with a development centre in Chennai and MPACT Technology Services, based in Chennai, for an all-cash consideration of $28 million. According to a Wipro statement, mPower, which is a niche company focused on payment space, has total annualised revenues of around $18 million and an annualised EBIT of around $4.6 million.

"Wipro Technologies also entered into a strategic engagement with MasterCard International, by acquiring 100 per cent stake in MPACT, a joint venture of MasterCard and mPower. The acquisition will be part of Wipro Technologies — Global IT services business of Wipro Ltd," it said. Wipro Technologies on a 300-member strong team and deep domain expertise in the payment space with these acquisitions, which will enable it to expand its addressable market in the financial solutions business.

As a part of this agreement, Wipro will provide MasterCard and other clients in the payment space with a wide range of services that could include application development and maintenance, infrastructure services, package implementation, BPO and testing.

"This partnership brings together the niche expertise of mPower in the payments space and Wipro’s wide range of services and extended global reach," said Naru Narayanan, chairman and CEO, mPower. "The payments industry is an area where we expect to see rapid growth in the near future, and this acquisition strengthens our capability in the payments arena, where we work across the chain from traditional, electronic and cards payments," said Sriram Srinivasan, vice-president, banking solutions, Wipro Technologies.