Test Drive Open Source Software at click2try

click2try is an open source supermarket: In a nutshell, the site lets you experiment with a wide range of applications (not to mention three different Linux distributions) right in a browser window without installing or buying anything.

Want to check out an office suite like Oxygen Office? How about accounting apps like SimpleInvoices or PostBooks? Want to give Ubuntu or Suse a test drive? Click2try has dozens on tap, and it only takes a few minutes to be up and running with any of them, while a virtual machine is erected in your browser.

There are some strict but reasonable limitations if you take advantage of a free account at click2try. You can only save your state in one app at a time, for example -- so while you can test 5 programs in a row, for example, you can't persist any data in the process. Also, you can only test a given app for a total of four hours over seven days, whichever comes first.

If you like it and want to use clcik2try as a hosting service for any of these apps, you can get a standard subscription, which gives two users access to two apps and 10GB of storage for $60/month. Or try the premium subscription ($70/month), which gives four users access to three apps. Click2try is like a candy store for anyone from entrepreneurs to IT managers who want to evaluate and possibly even run hosted apps. Very cool.