Etherpad - a web based Collaborative Real-time Editor

Etherpad, released on November 2008, is probably the best tool for collaborative text editing/writing. No, I am not talking about the same collaborative writing we do using Google Docs. Read the title again, its "real time". Yes, the one you see in Google Wave, you can almost instantly watch each user making changes in the document.

Now, we know Google Wave is pretty good at real time editing but a completely separate and targeted real time editor has its own benefits. With Etherpad you can quickly create a collaborative document known as a pad with its own URL using which you can share the document and call others to participate.

Each user and his work is shown in separte colours. One of the best features is the way it maintains the history. Etherpad saves the draft at each keystroke and using a Time Slider you can view the whole history. Users also have the option to specifically save the draft at some point or export it as a HTML, text, M$ Word or PDF document. If you want to compare it with Google Docs, do read this nice comparison written by Jane Hart.

via ietherpad.com

The actual Etherpad.com doesn't exist at the moment due to its acquisition by Google in December 2009 for integration in Google Wave. But later due to distress among its followers, it was opensourced by Google. Soon after, its followers and coders gathered and found Etherpad Foundation for further development.

So, if you are interested in trying out Etherpad, there are a few websites out there who run etherpad. And you may even install it on one of your servers if you need it for your company or otherwise.