-
How To Get IPhone/IPod Working With Windows Server 2003 Aug 5, 2009
-
How to Connect to your Home Machine via Gbridge Mar 16, 2009
-
Live SkyDrive – How To Set Up As Network Drive via Gladinet Apr 15, 2009
-
Insert Related Posts from WordPress Plugin for Windows Live Writer Apr 6, 2010
-
Windows Live SkyDrive – 25 gigs of space for free! Mar 26, 2009
Office Web Apps – Alternative to Google Docs
Up till now, Google Doc’s has been a free service that gives the user an ability to create, maintain and store various documents online. It had functionality to allow the user to upload and read Microsoft Office documents as well.
Microsoft has now struck back by releasing free online versions of its Office Suite and giving the users an alternative to Google Docs.
Called Office Web Apps, this suite is a cut down version of the desktop applications and allows for document viewing, sharing and light editing.
The consumer version of the tools are free and store the documents on Live SkyDrive. The corporate versions can get self hosted versions of the applications using Sharepoint.
Being online applications means that the applications will work regardless of the operating system and have been tested in Windows, Mac’s and Linux based machines through various internet browsers.
If you have Office 2010 installed, then Office Web Apps takes advantage of offline and online editing and can present a richer experience for users.
Office Web Apps are also supported via mobile browsers and allows the user to view documents saved onto their Live SkyDrive account directly on their mobiles.
Read below on how to use Office Web Apps.
Using Office Web Apps
In order to use this facility, you can sign up to your Windows Live account, or navigate to http://office.live.com.
Once you have signed on, you will be presented with a new “live” page similar to below:
The page will list all recent documents created using Office Web Apps as well as giving an option on the right to create a new document.
The interface is uncluttered and is user friendly. Hovering over an existing document displays a menu that allows for additional options:
These menus allow the user to share a document, view version history, download a local copy, etc.
When creating a new document, the first thing Web Apps asks for is a file name
Because this is a web application, the speed at which the application opens is dependent on your internet connection. It can take a bit of time to open the applications themselves.
Word
Any existing user of Microsoft Word will be familiar with the lighter online version of the application. It has a subset of functionality, but enough common functionality to be a good alternative at a pinch.
Opening up the document locally directly from this interface won’t work unless you are running Office 2010. Note: 2007 does not meet the requirements.
Excel
Again, a familiar interface to anyone who has used a spreadsheet before.
The one thing I couldn’t locate in here was a charting option. Which is a big omission. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough, but given the limited functionality, I couldn’t seem to see it anywhere.
PowerPoint
This allows you to create quick presentation slides or brochures. A lightweight again compared to the full version, but it comes with a variety of themes that can make a good looking presentation quickly and easily.
Because this can be graphically heavy, it can get cumbersome to work with online.
OneNote
OneNote is Office’s version of a catch all information store for storing ideas, plans, etc. It can contain multiple “notebooks” that can have pages that can hold all manner of information.
The online version is similar to the full version and while it hasn’t got the place notes and clips everywhere, it has enough to allow the user to jot quick notes down and store in an organised manner.
Conclusion
Working with the online version can present a bit of an issue if you have been using the full versions and are used to having functionality that suddenly is not there.
However, the subset of functions available are usually enough to use on demand.
I don’t believe this suite will replace the desktop versions (I don’t believe that is the aim). But if required, this can be a good half way house.
To enable full integration, you will need to use Office 2010 which supports opening documents from the web.
Related Posts
- Live SkyDrive – Mounting as a Network Drive via Gladinet
- Live SkyDrive – Saving files larger than 50 megs
- Zoho Personal – Online Office Suite
About the Author
dee Dee can sometimes be lazy in updating his blog.. feel free to give him a kick about anything you want to see on here! :)
