Best web applications of 2007

As the year comes to an end one is tempted to find out the top web apps for the year. This is not easy to do so because of the number of applications that are being released every day. Once you have your list of top web apps then you want to compare the results what others are saying.

I decided to list the top 5-8 web applications which have been the most useful to me in 2007. I knew that the biggest problem was that there were web applications which are great but I have not tried them even though I signed up for them but never got to test them for the want of time. Nevertheless here is my list

Google apps for your domain and Google web apps
I have been using Google for your domain for my office and it has been a big time saver and has made management of email accounts, documents, chat and scheduling much easier. Google apps include Google docs, Gmail, start page for your domain, Google calendar and the API’s of Google for your domain include Gmail, start page, The biggest advantage is there is a small learning curve as the Google web applications work similar to the offline applications.
Opera for my Mobile
I have a Sony Erricson W700i and the web browser Opera has been a boon for me as now I can check emails, information and also chat using Opera on my mobile. The interface of Opera is very easy to use and their latest version is a big improvement.
Delicious
I started using Del.icio.us at the end of 2006 though I was not using (or abusing it!) till February 2007 because that was the time I discovered the extensions for Firefox. Bookmarking has become interesting and doable because delicious stores the bookmarks online. The fact that everyone shares the bookmarks helps in finding useful sites which you might not find otherwise through regular search engines or browsing. At times instead of searching on the search engines I conduct searches on delicious and invariabily, though the results are far less, the results have some good and interesting links.
Wordpress and blogging
Wordpress exposed me to the world of blogging and I find sharing of thoughts on a blog very satisfying and fun. Now I’m not restricted to wordpress as now I have 5 regular blogs - one of them on Tumblr (http://www.palimadra.tunblr.com), two of them on blogger, then my personal journal at http://www.afterthe.net/journal and the last one on my business’s official site. While blogging one learns a lot about the nuances of web designing and how the Internet works while keeping in touch with your points of Interest. Once you have the blog up and running one has understand how to market it and that exposes you to the real time challenges of Internet marketing.
Lifehacker and Personal Productivity
Lifehacker (http://www.lifehacker.com and http://lifehack.org) has enabled me to see personal productivity from a different perspective. It is satisfying to know that other people in the world have similar problems as you and some of them are able to tackle it. Lifehacker has helped me understand myself better and also has assisted in developing different perspectives to everything in life and I’m sure would continue to do so for the rest of my life.
Box
Online backup of documents had a new meaning for me. Thanks to the team at Box.net for giving me a free account on their site where I could store my documents online. With the improved integration with Microsoft Office storing documents has become easier and the obvious thing to do.
Youtube
I know a lot of people would frown on inclusion of YouTube to my list of favorites. I feel the vertical has not developed fully and it is still evolving. However, I’m sure in the years to come this would take the shape of TV on demand. Everyone, I feel, would agree changed the way video was used in one’s life and has made video format more shareable.
Google Analytics
Though I’m still learning the tricks of the trade Google Analytics has added a whole new dimension to the areas of SEO, SEM and Internet marketing and exciting as one can measure the results from the intuitive interface of Google Analytics.

Once I had prepared a list of my best web applications I looked up to see what others were saying. There were analysis done by some of the industry observers and authorities in certain verticals. As I had expected they were very different from those on my list. Some of the links I studied were

http://lifehacker.com/software/lifehacker-top-10/top-10-new-and-improved-apps-of-2007-332617.php
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/11-top-new-web-apps-of-2007.html
http://www.investintech.com/resources/blog/archives/78-Popular-Desktop-Apps-And-Their-Online-Alternatives.html : A must read for those who have not viewed the post. Some great alternatives to offline applications.
http://socialmediatrader.com/115-social-news-and-bookmark-sites-rated-by-page-rank-inbound-links-and-value/

Please share your list and help people to discover services or web applications you use as this would be a good reward to those who have developed them.