Mashable - Forget PowerPoint: 13 Online Presentation Apps

Sean P. Aune of Mashable has gathered 13 online presentation creators that, as he says. "make it even easier for you to forget about doing anything offline ever again!"

I checked out a few of these tools and they offer a great alternative to other off-the-shelf Powerpoint to Flash programs. Most will allow you to import an existing Powerpoint slideshow and incorporate audio, video and animation elements. Embed tags seem to be a standard feature and some allow for offline editing so you can download the presentation and upload it to your own server or distribute it on CD or DVD-ROM.

I have used one of the online applications, VCASMO, which lets you synchronize video with Powerpoint slides. I reviewed it on this blog a few months ago and they now have an offline version. A reader named kski suggested a similar application called SimonShows which "allows for easier navigation through the content because it is organized by chapters and pages."

Here's the Mashable list (the entire text below is courtesy of Sean P. Aune - thanks Sean!)

1. jaxPresents - Presentation software portion of the Ajax13 office suite. Works with Firefox 1.5 and higher, free, and can import & export from PowerPoint and OpenOffice.
2. BrinkPad.com - A Java based presentation tool that allows you to create online and then download to your system to save it.
3. Empressr.com - A tool for creating media rich presentations online with Flash and Ajax. You can share them with the public and allow them to be voted on.
4. Google Documents - Google made their intentions to take on Microsoft Office fairly obvious when they finally added an online presentation tool to take on PowerPoint.
5. Preezo.com - Uses an Ajax-based interface for quick editing. Allows collaboration and easy sharing with clients and colleagues.
6. PresentationEngine.com - Focused more on larger corporate customers with a monthly budget for little bit higher-end needs. Provides templates for speedy creation.
7. PreZentit.com - Is a completely free presentation editor that generates the slides as web pages so they can even be edited in an HTML editor if you choose. They allow 250 MB of storage, but no limit to the size or duration of a presentation. Also offers unlimited online collaboration.
8. SlideRocket.com - Currently in private beta, SlideRocket is trying to fulfill all of the features of desktop apps and adding more online features. They are accepting emails to sign up for the beta at this time.
9. Spresent.com - A Flash presentation generator that can be used online or in their desktop editor. Results can be published or embedded.
10. ThinkFree.com - ThinkFree Show is part of the ThinkFree office suite which offers a free online alternative to Office. The service is free and offers 1 GB of online storage.
11. Thumbstacks.com - A free presentation builder that allows you to build your work right in te browser and then share it with anyone by just sending them a link.
12. Vcasmo.com - An online presentation editor that allows for work with numerous file formats, video, audio, photos and more. Online embedding and sharing is easy when you’re done, and they expect to launch a Facebook app sometime in the second quarter of 2008.
13. Zoho Show - Zoho’s answer for presentation software offers all of their usual services such as collaboration, but you also get the chance to embed your shows in blogs or present long distance to a client.