Microsoft added a chat feature to the free Office version

Free version of Office Online has been added by Microsoft to help users easily discuss with classmates and colleagues about a certain document.

Microsoft recently added a chat feature for some of the applications in Office Onlin e - a free version of Office web-based (at office.com) . Applications in Office Online have just added this feature including Word and Powerpoint. Currently Excel and OneNote users are not yet supported.

This chat feature is similar to that on Google Drive , when you share a document file with a group of friends, helping people to discuss documents easily. On Office Online, Microsoft uses Skype to operate the new feature. So you can use Skype to review the chat content even when the session on Office Online ends.

If you're using Outlook.com and Microsoft OneDrive storage, you'll notice that Office Online chat is very similar to the chat feature on these two services.

Earlier, Microsoft added real-time document editing to Office Online last year. Along with chat features, Office Online promises to be an ideal tool for Office users when they need to work in groups with classmates and colleagues. Microsoft said Office Online will receive this chat feature "in the next few weeks" .