On Beyond Powerpoint

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Best for...Handling multimedia Web presentations

Empressr

What it is: A hosted Web service for creating, managing, and sharing multimedia presentations

What's cool: Makes it easy to combine video, photos, animation, and text. You can link to media files on the Web. Empressr's effects include cool transitions and the ability to add things like reflections and dropped shadows for images, and it has hundreds of fonts.

Drawbacks: It's Web-only, so if you're without Web access, you're out of luck. It doesn't allow you to limit a presentation to a small group of co-workers; you need to post it in private mode and then send a link to it via e-mail (the company says it is adding a group sharing option).

Price: Free for now, but eventually business-oriented features such as storage and sharing with a specific group will cost money.

Best for...Putting video alongside a presentation

Zentation

What it is: A free tool that lets online viewers simultaneously watch your slides and a video of you speaking about them

What's cool: It requires no technical expertise beyond the ability to videotape a presentation and upload it. It's easy to post your work online to Zentation.com.

Drawbacks: It works only with PowerPoint files and Google Video. (YouTube compatibility is in the works.) Synchronizing the video with changing slides needs to be done manually. Keeping a presentation private (secure) costs money.

Price: Free. But for a secure presentation, hosted by Zentation, there is a charge that varies based on a number of factors. A 90-minute presentation that will have perhaps 2,000 views over two months would cost a minimum of $200.

Best for...Basic Web presenting

Spresent

What it is: A Web-based presentation tool, useful for things like letting colleagues in remote offices view slides during a conference call without having to set up a Web conference or e-mail presentations

What's cool: The software can help locate and retrieve images and videos on Flickr and YouTube, making it easy to work those into presentations. It's built in the widely used Flash environment, so it is graphics-friendly and works with all Web browsers. It offers a clever pen feature that lets you write or draw new slides as you present. And there is a desktop version of the software, so it works without a Net connection too.

Drawbacks: It is not as advanced as PowerPoint. Once Google enables its online presentation tool to work offline too, services like Spresent are in danger of becoming an afterthought.

Price: The Web version is free. The desktop version costs $29.95.

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