This morning Adobe opened their beta for Acrobat.com which essentially offers a word processor “buzzword”, some file storage options, and they are integrating all of this into a Flash player environment.  If you already have an Adobe account you’re already signed up for the beta, you just need to log in at www.acrobat.com

The interface is pretty slick, as everything is in a Flash player interface.  There is a six page document explaining the buzzword processor to help you get up to speed quickly, interestingly you can edit the documentation which is a nice way to learn more about the tools as you’ll find a variety of elements such as hyperlinks, images, form elements (such as check boxes), tables, etc…

As I navigate the buzzword processor I feel like the Flash interface isn’t as snappy as something that might be written in C++, I wish I could disable the animation of the tools, such as fly-outs and fades… they just add to the time it takes when trying to work efficiently.

There is a “meet” feature which allows you to conduct online meetings to collaborate with others, the feature uses AdobeConnect for its functionality.  Upone clicking the “meet” button your provided with a URL which is what users need in order to get to your “meeting room”.  In your meeting room you can share a web-cam, computer screen, and microphone.  There’s also “pods” which can be enabled adding functionality for chat, whiteboards, etc…

The biggest reason Adobe built and is releasing Acrobat.com into beta is to get people excited for Acrobat 9 when it ships, this online product (acrobat.com) will provide additional support for Acrobat 9 when it ships.

Acrobat.com feels semi-finished, but when Acrobat 9 ships it will feel a whole lot more useful.