1. Top 10 Semantic Web Products of 2008
2. Top 10 International Products of 2008
3. Top 10 Consumer Web Apps of 2008
4. Top 10 RSS and Syndication Products of 2008
5. Top 10 Mobile Web Products of 2008

Our Criteria

In no order of importance (all three are critical), we looked for three attributes for the top Enterprise web products:

1. Innovation: This is the time for firms that opened up entirely new market categories through disruptive innovation to reap the rewards.
2. Traction: We cannot put a cool new company whose product is just emerging from beta into our top 10. Winners should already have major traction in the market.
3. Longevity: This is a mix of profitability and deep pockets; an ability to outlast the competition.

The market categories that feature in this post are: platforms (with 2 companies making the list), wiki (2), web office (2), CMS 2.0 (1), project collaboration (1), web conferencing (1), and contact networking (1). Note that we didn't consider micro-blogging, RSS or mash-up products, as we consider those to be features rather than products - in the Enterprise market at least.

Drum Roll... and the List

Note: to avoid ranking them (which is impossible because they compete in different markets), the winners aren't in any particular order.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Who would have thought that a bookseller could have generated such enthusiasm and loyalty in the developer community? Eons ago, Microsoft won big by winning the hearts and minds of developers. Amazon does that today better than any other company.

Platforms will do well in 2009, though not many will. The platforms market is a race for scale, requiring massively deep pockets. We chose two, but they have lots of very strong competitors breathing down their necks.

Basecamp

37Signals, maker of Basecamp, is a lot of peoples favorite start-up (even its competitors feel obliged to say nice things about the company). The way they do project collaboration is almost as important as what they do. Their "less is more" elegance has become the mantra of developers everywhere. The one issue? It keeps its products separate. You have to choose which one to use. Vendors with suites could take advantage of this.

Confluence (Atlassian)

We are seeing major wiki adoption in the enterprise. It is simply a much easier way to collaborate than by putting lots of complex technology under the general umbrella of the Intranet.

It is hard to pick winners here. The space is crowded. In fact, we picked two for this category (MindTouch is the other). Atlassian seems a safe bet for enterprise, having traction and a good breadth of products. It is also nice that a vendor from the southern-hemisphere (Australia) made the top 10.

DimDim

This is our small-vendor recession play. In a recession, companies travel less, so they use web conferencing more. They also cut whatever budgets they can, and web conferencing isn't spared. DimDim's proposition is incredibly simple: web conferencing for less cost. The one issue? It is still a bit raw, and the company will need deep pockets to satisfy what we expect will be a growing demand.

Google Apps

Google Apps is one of Google's more mature offerings outside of search. It's a huge market, and Google has major traction. The move from PC-based office software to web-based "office tools" accelerated in 2008 and became increasingly mainstream.

The one issue? Google may be spreading itself too thin. Unbelievably, its flagship Gmail is still in beta and suffers from reliability issues, and some modules (such as for spreadsheet) still seem a bit raw compared to those of competitors.

Wordpress

This choice may be controversial. We see a big market in the replacement of first-generation content management systems (CMS), with simpler SaaS tools that have blogging at their core. Automattic's Wordpress is growing in reputation as the platform that delivers this the best.

Deciding between Movable Type and WordPress was a really tough call. Movable Type (which we use for ReadWriteWeb) has major traction in Enterprise accounts. In the end, we chose WordPress based on the quality of its continuous innovation. Salesforce, though, has recently entered this market from a totally different angle. We see CMS 2.0 integrating what are currently stand-alone features: social networking, video, and so on.

LinkedIn

This is a controversial pick. We see this as the "contact networking" space, which will be part of next generation CRM. We deliberately avoided the "social networking" label. Enterprises don't care about being social: they care about managing contacts to make money. Most people would not categorize LinkedIn as "enterprise." It would have been easier to include one of the many vendors that sell white-label enterprise social-networking software. We didn't do that for the same reason we didn't consider micro-blogging as a category: its more a feature than a category, much less a product or company.

But contact networking leader LinkedIn has tackled two of the biggest issues for enterprise: acquiring customers and hiring employees. And it has a huge networks-effect advantage over any of its competitors. It could easily create an "internal enterprise LinkedIn." This is LinkedIn's game to win or lose: it holds the cards in the contact graph deck.

MindTouch Deki

This is the other winner in the crowded wiki ++ space. You can tell a market is in the tornado-high growth stage of the market adoption cycle when it has really tough head-to-head competition. In this particular market, MindTouch and SocialText are banging heads. It looks like a close fight, too close to call really, but we had to make a call and went with MindTouch. It also competes with Atlassian, but not head to head.

We added "++" to "wiki" because the leading vendors are rapidly incorporating micro-blogging, social networking, forums, and other collaboration tools. Integration is key, so we see this market moving towards suites, but with wiki at the core.

Force.com (Salesforce)

This company defined the SaaS/cloud space with brilliant marketing and relentless focus. While it is clearly dominant in the SaaS CRM space, it is also a serious contender in the bigger platform space. If we had to pick one reason why Force.com is a major platform winner, it would be because of its focus on making its partner eco-system succeed. The one big issue? Its core CRM market is being undermined by two serious low-cost competors: SugarCRM and Zoho CRM.

Zoho

Zoho has so many apps, that we can't pick just one! But it is our David-vs-Goliath winner, so deserves to be on this list. At the beginning of the year, the web office market looked crowded. It now has Zoho (David) vs. Google (Goliath), with Microsoft, as always, not to be counted out. In fact, Zoho has yet another Goliath on its hands because it also competes with Salesforce in the CRM space, which points to its one big issue: it is spread very thin, and some of its products show it from their lack of depth.

Limiting It to 10 Is Hard!

This being a time of "back to basics," we had to forgo the luxury of an 11-winner list. We certainly did not allow ourselves a list of 100 companies, which would have kept everybody happy. So we know we have almost certainly missed your favorite company: we expect and hope you'll tell us in the comments.

We were looking for companies that would still be considered success stories one year from now, and hoping to avoid the embarrassment of hailing as a great success a company that crashes and burns in the harsh economy of 2009. That means our top 10 winners should be profitable, or very close to profitability, today. These are companies that would attract a big fat premium if they were to be acquired, even in a lousy market, because they would not be desperate for an exit and could afford to wait out the economy until markets and their valuations become healthier.

We're playing it safe with our top 10 list for one reason: because that is what buyers will be doing.

With the Top 10 Consumer Web Apps of 2008, we've tried to select the apps that have burst onto the radar of the everyday user this year - or if not quite, then perhaps they will next year.

This is the third in a series of top products of 2008:

1. Top 10 Semantic Web Products of 2008
2. Top 10 International Products of 2008

Note: We attempted to order this list from most obvious to least obvious.

1. Twitter

Twitter is the de facto leader of the microblogging scene, a realm usually rife with witty repartee between leading social media consultants and Web 2.0 developers. But when household names like Lance Armstrong, Richard Branson, Al Gore, Shaquille O'Neal, Britney Spears, and politicians across the US started using it, this year, it was clear that our selection as the Best Web LittleCo for 2007 had grown up - and entered the public consciousness.

Twitter was a constant fixture on ReadWriteWeb this year from its use as a source of news to its growing use as a customer service channel. But it wasn't without its hiccups. Midway through the year, Twitter - and its more and more frequent showings of the Fail Whale - was rapidly becoming persona non grata. In June 2008, Amazon's Jeff Bezos poured more cash into the service. And with the US elections, Twitter proved its mettle, becoming a critical forum for debate on the issues at hand.

2. Firefox

November 2008 marked the fourth birthday for Firefox, arguably one of the most successful open source projects and clearly the most popular Web browser that users have to actually install. In 2008, more and more of the consumer population gravitated to the browser that strives to deliver the Web the right way.

Firefox has continued to grow in popularity throughout 2008, but it was the download day for Firefox 3 that began to truly turn heads. Site crushing traffic to download a Web browser? Believe it. So much traffic, in fact, that it set a world record. That, and a number of other factors, had Firefox reaching a 20% market share in October of this year.

3. IntenseDebate

IntenseDebate - dubbed by RWW as the "the sophisticated blog comment system with the silly name" - provides a commenting add-in for blogs and Web sites that allows users to better manage their profiles and comments across multiple conversations. It also supports OpenID.

In 2008, distributed commenting was still a very young space with no clear leader. But when IntenseDebate appeared as the comment system on US President-elect Barack Obama's change.gov, it stepped into the public eye. Now, thousands of people are using the commenting system. This makes Automattic - the company that manages the development of WordPress - look pretty insightful for acquiring IntenseDebate this year.

4. Hulu

If Hulu - a joint video content sharing venture between NBC Universal and News Corp. - is any indication, traditional mainstream media companies are beginning to get this whole "online thing."

And with good reason. In 2008, Hulu shed its ugly duckling image and came into its own and was projected to earn a staggering $90 million in its first year. How? Again, the true turning point was the US elections. Consumers turned to Hulu as much for the political content, as for the satire - like Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show. Now, consumers are hooked and that affinity for the service is showing no sign of slowing.

5. Ning

Ning is a service designed to help anyone build a social network about anything that interests them. And in 2008, consumers flocked to the site to do exactly that - to the tune of a new social network created every 30 seconds.

As of October 2008, Ning was host to half of a million networks. And it will only continue to grow in the consumer space. Why? Much like Twitter, Ning has begun to attract celebrities who find the service a viable way of interacting with fans. Plus, with its integration of OpenSocial, Ning gains access to tech savvy consumers on a variety of social networks who already understand the dynamic.

6. Last.fm

Any app that incorporates consumer media and makes it easier to use is a winner. And that's why Last.fm, the socially driven music recommendation service, is a shoo-in for top consumer apps of 2008.

We at RWW spend a great deal of time focused on Last.fm - from the most popular songs to mashups created using its data to visualizing Last.fm friends networks - because we spend so much time on Last.fm. One thing is for sure with its redesigned site, the growing presence on mobile platforms, innovative programs, and interesting features, Last.fm is sure to continue gaining more and more fans.

7. Meebo

Meebo, always a favorite here at RWW, provides a centralized instant message platform that's accessible from any Web browser. While they've always been popular with the overly connected crowd, 2008 marks the year where Meebo has a growing opportunity to become a consumer favorite, as well.

In March 2008, we saw Meebo as having the opportunity to bring Web IM to the mainstream. Throughout the year, they continued to improve - including adding a revenue stream. And by October, Meebo had begun to roll out a partner program that will place its functionality on niche consumer sites throughout the Web. Even if consumers don't recognize Meebo yet, they will soon.

8. Mogulus

If YouTube taught people about online video and Ustream taught folks how to stream video, then Mogulus will be the service that teaches consumers how to broadcast online. And in a burgeoning HD market, where users are coming to expect crisp video and audio quality even online, Mogulus stands to become the streaming service of choice for serious videophiles.

In June 2008, we reported that Mogulus - which launched in May 2007 - was already reporting 4.5 million uniques. By September, that number had grown nearly 30% to 5.8 million. Clearly, the numbers are on the upswing.

9. Qik

Qik, the service that allows users to stream video to the Web from a mobile handset, may not be as prevalent on the consumer radar as some of these other apps. But it's safe to say it will be. While services like Mogulus have focused on the quality of the video stream, services like Qik have focused on the converse: the ability to stream content with devices that consumers are already carrying around. And that will be their key to success - the ability to deliver more content while hauling less gear.

At the beginning of the year, we wondered if Qik might be one of the breakout apps at SXSW 2008 given the number of tech types participating in its early testing. By the middle of 2008, Qik had opened its beta to more participants. And since that point, they've focused on making the service available on both mass market phones and some smart phones. No doubt, the ability to shoot video with that phone in your pocket will be as compelling to consumers as taking photos - if not moreso.

10. Cooliris

Cooliris may be the least obvious - and least recognized - of our consumer app selections, but it has that certain something that makes us sure its going to be popular with the less technically savvy. For those of you who haven't had the chance to try it, Cooliris is a browser extension that provides a 3D environment for thumbing through visual sites - like photo and video sites. What's more, it makes it fun. And that's why consumers will continue to be attracted to it.

We covered Cooliris - then called PicLens - in February 2008, finding it "a lot of fun to play with and makes searching and viewing images on the web very enjoyable." By June 2008, they had added Amazon items and YouTube videos. Even the iPhone got the Cooliris treatment with the Cooliris iPhone app. Most recently, Cooliris has unveiled features that allow users to personalize selections - and that allows Cooliris to sell more advertising. Visual browsing is still coming into its own, but Cooliris is leading the charge in a way that consumers will embrace.

Now, it's your turn. What's your opinion on these selections? Are we off? Did we miss something? Are you seeing consumer adoption elsewhere?

And thanks to a new application from Simplify Media, you can now even access all that music from your desktop while on the road.

Simplify Media does something Apple should have built into the iTunes Remote already: it allows you to stream the music in your iTunes or Winamp library right to your phone or iPod touch, no matter whether you are on your home wifi network or the cell network. The interface is very similar to that of the regular iPod application, but adds some nice touches to it, including automatically downloaded lyrics and artist bios.

In order to use Simplify Media, you have to first install a small application on the machine that hosts your music and set up an account with Simplify Media. The application is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux and installing it is extremely easy. As a bonus, you can also share your music library with up to 30 of your friends and family members.

We mostly tested the application over AT&T's 3G network, where songs started within seconds. Our tests on the EDGE network were also successful, but it just takes a bit more patience as you have to wait for the buffer to fill up just a bit longer.

Simplify Media is available for free for the first 100,000 users and will cost $3.99 after that. As of now, the app is still available for free on iTunes.

2) Pandora (iTunes link)

The music discovery service Pandora has been a long-time favorite here at RWW. Pandora, if you are not already familiar with it, lets you create your own radio station, based on songs or artists you like. As you listen to more songs, you can vote them up or down, which allows Pandora to calibrate itself to your music tastes. If you like a particular song, Pandora gives you the option to directly buy it from iTunes, or to bookmark the song so you can buy it later on.

Pandora's iPhone interface is similar to that of its web interface and, like most of the music apps listed here, is somewhat reminiscent of Apple's own iPod app.

One thing we noticed was that there is a trade-off between sound quality and network speed. If you are on a wifi network, you get a high bitrate and stereo sound, but if you are on a cell network (even 3G), the bitrate is adjusted to only 64kbps and the sounds is only available mono, which can sounds a bit tinny, but is still quite acceptable while you're driving in a car.

Overall, we love the Pandora application because it has allowed us to discover more new music than any radio station ever would.

3) Last.fm (iTunes link)

Last.fm is somewhat similar to Pandora, but it has more social aspects built into the app. You can, for example, play stations from your friends on Last.fm. The Last.fm application also displays any upcoming concerts by the band that is currently playing.

One limitation of the Last.fm iPhone application is that it can't look at your favorite music on your iPod and make recommendations based on this ('scrobbling'), which has always been one of the main selling-points of Last.fm on the desktop. This is probably due to the limitations of the iPhone SDK and won't feel like much of a limitation to new Last.fm users, but if you are used to this functionality, using the iPhone app will feel limited.

Once you are logged into the app, you can listen to songs you can listen to recommended songs you have already scrobbled on your desktop, listen to your friend's recommendation, or start a new station altogether. If you like a particular song, you can immediately buy it on iTunes.

Last.fm offers a higher audio quality than Pandora, but the price of this is that we experienced longer delays and more drop-outs when streaming over the 3G or EDGE network.

4) AOL Radio (iTunes link)

The AOL Radio application lets you listen to online radio stations, though the selection is mostly limited to CBS owned stations and AOL's own special interest stations (think 'All German Folk Music 24/7'). While it might seem backwards to want to listen to radio on the iPhone given that you have so many other options, a lot of the specialty AOL stations are actually quite good. There is also a nice selection of talk radio stations available, including one called 'Psychic Radio' (their motto is 'We Know You are Listening...").

The application organizes stations by location (and it can use the built in GPS of the iPhone to find your own local stations) or music genre. If you like a particular song, you can, as will all the other apps, buy it on iTunes, or bookmark it, though you can't really do anything with those bookmarks besides buying the song later on.

One restriction of AOL Radio is that some stations are only available while you are on a wifi network and there is no way of telling which stations have this restriction and which don't/

5) Tuner Internet Radio (iTunes link)

If you want more Internet radio stations and the ability to add your own streams, Tuner Internet Radio is for you, but you will also have to pay $5.99 for the privilege. While it is overall quite similar to AOL Radio, you get a lot more options and even a built in OpenGL based visualizer. One area where Tuner Internet Radio shines is in its selection of international stations. While AOL Radio mostly features CBS stations, Tuner Internet Radio also features BBC and PBS stations, among many others.

Tuner Internet Radio can play any AAC+, MP3, PLS, and M3U stream, but note that it does not support RealPlayer or Windows Media stream, which might be quite a limitation if your favorite Internet stations use these formats.

Whether buying this is worth the $5.99 is a personal decision, but if you don't mind the price, Tuner Internet Radio is, in our view, a better application than AOL Radio.

1. Loves To Code
2. Gets Things Done
3. Continuously Refactors Code
4. Uses Design Patterns
5. Writes Tests
6. Leverages Existing Code
7. Focuses on Usability
8. Writes Maintainable Code
9. Can Code in Any Language
10. Knows Basic Computer Science

1. Loves To Code

Programming is a labor of love. Like any occupation, truly great things are achieved only with passion. It is a common misconception that writing code is mechanical and purely scientific. In truth, the best software engineers are craftsman, bringing energy, ingenuity, and creativity to every line of code. Great engineers know when a small piece of code is shaping up perfectly and when the pieces of a large system start to fit together like a puzzle. Engineers who love to code derive pleasure from building software in much the same way a composer might feel ecstatic about finishing a symphony. It is that feeling of excitement and accomplishment that makes rockstar engineers love to code.

2. Gets Things Done

There are plenty of technical people out there who talk about software instead writing it. One of the most important traits of a great software engineer is that they actually code. They actually get things done. Smart people know that the best way to solve problems is go straight at them. Instead of spending weeks designing complex, unnecessary infrastructure and libraries, a good engineer should ask: What is the simplest path to solving the problem at hand? The recent methodologies for building software, called Agile practices, focus on just that. The idea is to break complex projects into short iterations, each of which focuses on a small set of incremental features. Because each iteration takes just a few weeks to code, the features are manageable and simple. Teams that follow agile practices never create infrastructure for its own sake, instead they are focused on addressing a simple set of requirements. The secret is that when this approach is applied iteratively, a rich, complex piece of software arises naturally.

3. Continuously Refactors Code

Coding is very much like sculpting. Just like an artist is constantly perfecting his masterpiece, an engineer continuously reshapes his code to meet requirements in the best possible way. The discipline of reshaping code is known as refactoring and was formally described by Martin Fowler in his seminal book. The original idea behind refactoring was to improve code without changing what it does, moving pieces of the software around to ensure that the system is free of rot and also does what it is supposed to do based on current requirements. Continuous refactoring allows developers to solve another well-known problem - black box legacy code that no one wants to touch. For decades engineering culture dictated that you should not change the things that work. The issue, though, is that over time you become a slave to the old code, which grows unstable and incompatible. Refactoring changes that, because instead of the code owning you, you own the code. Refactoring establishes ongoing dialogue between the engineer and the code and leads to ownership, certainty, confidence, and stability in the system.

4. Uses Design Patterns

Ever since the so called Gang of Four published their famous Design Patterns book, world-class engineers have been talking about patterns. Patterns are ubiquitous in our world - both in nature and all human endeavors; software engineering is no exception. Patterns are recurrent scenarios and mechanisms that live across languages and systems. A good engineer always recognizes and leverages patterns, but is not driven by them. Instead of trying to fit the system into a set of patterns, the engineer recognizes opportunities in which to apply patterns. Applying a pattern ensures correctness since it leverages existing know-how: a method for solving a particular engineering problem that has worked before.

5. Writes Tests

Long gone are the days when engineers thought of testing as beneath them. After all, how can you be certain that your code is actually working if you never test it? An agile practice called Unit Testing has recently gained popularity because it focuses on writing tests to mirror the code. As the system grows, the body of tests grows with it, providing proof that the code actually works. Experienced engineers know and understand the value of tests, because their goal is to create a working system. Good engineers will always write a test once a bug has been exposed to make sure it does not come back again. But a good engineer also knows not to waste time writing trivial or redundant tests, instead focusing on testing the essential parts of each component.

6. Leverages Existing Code

Reinventing the wheel has always been one of the biggest problems in the software industry. From inventing new languages to rewriting libraries, the strange drive to ignore and redo what is already there and already works has been the cause of a lot of software failures. A rockstar engineer will focus on three essential kinds of reuse. First of all, the reuse of internal infrastructure, the code that he and his peers have written. Secondly, the use of third party libraries, for example, in Java, the libraries that are part of JDK or popular libraries provided by the Apache Foundation. And finally, a good engineer would look to leverage web-scale web service, like the ones offered by Amazon. Correct leveraging of existing infrastructure allows rockstar engineers to focus on what is most essential - the application itself.

7. Focuses on Usability

Good engineers always focus on the users. Whether the user is a business or an individual, whether the engineer works for a consumer software company or an investment bank, the focus is on working, usable software. How will users interact with the system? Does it provide a simple, intuitive, and smooth experience? The notion that because a software engineer is a techie, he or she thus can not relate to how other people interact with the system is deeply flawed. Good engineers work hard to make the system simple and usable. They think about customers all the time and do not try to invent convoluted stuff that can only be understood and appreciated by geeks.

8. Writes Maintainable Code

The other secret of good engineers is that it takes the same amount of time to write good code as it does to write bad code. A disciplined engineer thinks about the maintainability and evolution of the code from its first line. There is never any reason to write ugly code, a method that spawns multiple pages, or code with cryptic variable names. Rockstars write code which follows naming conventions, code which is compact, simple and not overly clever. Each line of code serves its purpose and resides in the right place. The bits that are difficult to understand are commented, but otherwise naming conventions are clear. Expressive names for methods and variables can make the code self-explanatory.

9. Can Code in Any Language

A good engineer might have a favorite programming language but is never religious about it. There are many great programming languages these days and to say that you only can code in one of them is to demonstrate a lack of versatility. In Java, C#, or C++ you can write any modern software. You can code the back end of any web site in PHP, in Perl, or in Ruby. At the end of the day, the language does not matter as much as the libraries that come with it. A good engineer knows that and is willing and able to learn new languages, new libraries and new ways of building systems.

10. Knows Basic Computer Science

The last, but certainly not the least trait of a great engineer is a solid foundation. A good engineer might not have a degree in computer science but must know the basics - data structures and algorithms. How can you build large scale software without knowing what a hashtable is? Or the difference between a linked list and an array? These are the basics that everyone should know. And the algorithms are just as important - from binary search to different sorts to graph traversals, a rockstar engineer must know and internalize the basics. These foundations are necessary to make the right design decisions when building any modern piece of software.

Conclusion

There are many traits that distinguish great software engineers. Among the ones we discussed, passion is certainly very important. Knowing the basics like code reuse, design patterns, fundamental data structures, and algorithms is necessary, while agile practices of refactoring and unit testing help engineers iteratively evolve complex software. Most importantly, rockstar engineers believe in simplicity and common sense. It is these beliefs that help them succeed in building the seemingly impossible, complex software systems that are necessary in today's world.

Let us know what other traits you think a rockstar software engineer should have, in the comments below.

In no particular order, but loosely categorized, my favorites of '07 were:

I used to be Bloglines' biggest fan. I still love what they're doing, especially since Eric Engleman came on board and re-energized development. But Google Reader has been my favourite RSS Reader throughout 2007, thanks to their continued innovation and experimentation. But the great thing about this space is that innovation is back: Google forced Bloglines' hand, but the Bloglines Beta is encouraging. Newsgator has never really stopped innovating and it's only the fact that I prefer a browser-based Reader that's prevented me from becoming a Newsgator fanatic.

One new RSS Reader to watch is fav.or.it, which is doing some innovative work including integrating comments. Also keep an eye on Streamy and FeedEachother (our review).

See 2007: The Year in RSS for more details on this market.

Start Page: Pageflakes, Netvibes

I use them both because they are fine products, well designed and always ahead of the curve in comparison with Google, Microsoft and Yahoo's similar offerings.

iGoogle does offer more gadgets, but the slick UI and constant developments in Pageflakes and Netvibes is what keeps those two at the top of my list of start pages.

Tech News: Techmeme, Original Signal

Techmeme is well known amongst tech bloggers and readers, quite simply because it's second to none in keeping up with tech news. Aggregating news on a single page, ordering it and having it constantly catching scoops as they happen - it's very hard to pull that off. Many have tried (TailRank, Megite, etc), but none have become daily addictions like Techmeme has for me.

Original Signal is another that I use a lot. It is a useful aggregation service of popular links, in a variety of categories. It's a very simple idea, but nicely implemented (with previews, ability to re-order, etc).

Online Music: last.fm

Without a doubt the best online music service, at least according to a comparison test we did earlier this year. I frequently use last.fm during the working week, and it never fails to throw up great new artists that I'd not heard before.

Pandora is also fine, but unfortunately it's inaccessible to me as I live outside the US. Grooveshark is one to keep an eye on (or an ear on!). Amie Street is another good, DRM-free source of online music (our review). See also ReadWriteWeb's Online Music Week for more recommendations.

Web Office: Google Docs, Zoho

I use both sets of Web Office suites on a regular basis, to collaborate with others on documents - or even by myself, simply because it is so practical to do word processing or spreadsheets in the browser (I don't have much call to do powerpoints). I even tried to use exclusively Web Office for a period in 2007, instead of Microsoft Office. This was because I'd gotten a new Mac and decided to see how long I'd last without MS Office. It lasted a few months, but in the end I got frustrated with little things like slow UI and lack of some of the advanced features in MS Office.

I'm sure that Web Office suites will compete better with MS Office over the coming years, but for now they are excellent complements to the desktop suites.

Project Mgmt: Basecamp

I simply can't live without this product now. We use it at ReadWriteWeb, for team messaging, collaboration on projects, To Do lists, and more. It's also one of the relatively rare web apps that I actually pay for (gasp! what a concept!).

Web Email: Gmail

I've spoken many times about how I love the 'web native' functionality of Gmail. It has performance issues at times (even going down for half a day early in the year), but overall it remains my number 1 email account.

Yahoo Mail is still the number 1 worldwide, and Windows Live Hotmail has millions of users too. I also tried Thunderbird during the year. But none was able to even come close to enticing me to ditch Gmail.

Social News: Digg, StumbleUpon

I use Digg a lot to monitor tech news - and of course it is an important traffic driver for tech blogs such as RWW. StumbleUpon is something I'm still getting used to, despite having been a user for a while now. By design it favors serindipity over tracking, which makes it different from most of the news services I use (digg, Techmeme, Google Reader, Pageflakes, etc). Still, it has an attraction to it - why else do I have the StumbleUpon toolbar on my browser? :-)

del.icio.us is something I use a lot too. Another one to keep an eye on is Sphinn, a small but influential social news site focused on search. And there is a new design coming for Propeller (ex-Netscape). Mixx is another getting rave reviews. So these may become regular visits for me in '08.

Reddit is another social news product worth mentioning, although I've always found its popular stories to be a bit on the frivolous side. Just my opinion.

Video, Photos: YouTube, Flickr

I'm not a huge user of online video, so YouTube still does the trick for me. I also like MyStrands (our review) and Current, the latter which released a stellar new design a couple of months ago. Joost is getting a lot of hype, but it wasn't something I found compelling in '07.

In photos, Flickr is another of those rare apps I pay for - which must mean it's good ;-)

Social Networks / Blogging: Facebook, MyBlogLog, Twitter, Tumblr

These are my most used social networking sites / micro-blogging services (I'm bundling them into the same category here, only because I personally use them all as social publishing tools).

Like a lot of people, for me Facebook started out 2007 as a relatively obscure US college student social network. However by the end of the year, everyone I know in the blogosphere was on it. But I have to also mention that MyBlogLog has become a very effective kind of social network for RWW readers - one of the reasons it survived the Great Widget Purge of the December RWW re-design.

LinkedIn is something I use often, if only to approve new business connections. Unfortunately Plaxo isn't doing it for me, even though I receive several connection requests each week now.

I'm a Twitter addict now (username is rww) and I've started to experiment using Tumblr as a personal blog.

Conclusion

So those are (some) of my most used web apps and sites. There are many others I use but didn't mention, in order to keep this post to a manageable length!

What were your favorite web sites and apps of '07? And what would you recommend that RWW readers use in 2008?

Image credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid