The Office Web Apps are
slimmed down versions of the desktop counterparts, allowing for document
viewing, sharing, and lightweight editing. Consumers get free access to
the tools, along with 25GB of storage as part of Windows Live, while
businesses can also host their own version of the Web Apps using the
latest version of Sharepoint. The browser-based versions require an active
Internet connection.
These Web-based applications will function as
an extension to their desktop counterparts, bringing the best of both
worlds together. 95 percent of the users who use these Web-based
versions of the products will be able to accomplish most of what they
need in the cyberspace environment.
Users will no longer be tethered to any
specific hardware device to get to their office applications. They will
be able to access these Web-based applications through Microsoft Office
Live Workspace, a service that allows the management of documents
(similar to Google Docs).
Office Web applications are meant to
compliment locally installed Microsoft Office products instead of fully
replacing them. The good news is you don't need IE to run the web-based
version. Office Web applications will also run on Firefox and Safari.
With this development, people can benefit from Office as a service on
their browser, as a downloadable application on their phone, and as
software on their PCs.
Microsoft has also built the Web apps into a
new version of Hotmail and created a labs effort called Docs.com that
allows the sharing of Office documents over Facebook.
