Microsoft 'webized' Office applications

Microsoft has announced it will test the beta version of Web-based office applications to compete with rival Google Docs.

According to the product manager of Microsoft Office Client, Justin Hutchinson, these Web-based applications will be distributed through Office Live Workspace service and will allow users to create and edit documents online from the browser. .

Office Web is not perfect yet

Those were significant changes since Microsoft launched Live Workspace in March 2008. The new service will require creators to create new documents on the desktop versions of Word, PowerPoint and Excel and then save on the Web, specifically on Microsoft servers. Other users can view documents online, but if you want to edit them, they must download them to the computer and use Office on the desktop to open them.

How Office Web works differently from other online application packages such as Google Docs and Zoho because the entire process of creating, saving and editing documents is done through a Web browser.

According to Michael Schultz, director of marketing and product management at Office Live Small Business, since the launch until now, there have been more than 1.5 million people registered to use the Office Web version. Currently this application is in the process of 'technical preview', meaning that users are allowed to create new documents online without installing Office on the computer. Web applications including Word, PowerPoint, Excel and oneNote will also have the same ribbon feature as the Web-based Office application package, allowing users to edit documents directly in the browser.

Microsoft plans to deploy a test version of the Web application for Live Works testers later this year, although it doesn't say exactly how many people are allowed to test the application. Microsoft did not specify the number of testers testing the 'technical preview' released a few months ago, but according to the conjecture, that number is very small.

Microsoft: Office Web is just a supplement

Neither Neither Schultz and Hutchinson referred to the Office Web applications as Google Docs' rival because the approach to Microsoft's online tools is completely different. While Google sees online applications as a way to free users from desktop applications, Microsoft considers them additional products in the 'software associated with service' model.

Microsoft recommends that users use Web applications in conjunction with Office packages on the desktop as a way for users to share documents that are not e-mail to or from, and can access documents when not sitting on my computer.

' With Workspace, we focus on compact editing capabilities. You can add text, formatting and other things to the Office Web version, but if you want to edit graphics, or other complex tasks, you should use Office on a desktop background , 'Hutchinson recommends.

According to Hutchinson, users will not need to install an Office version and still be able to create documents using web applications. This service will be provided for free to users, supported by online advertising methods.

Forrester analyst Sheri McLeish said he was not surprised that Microsoft provided applications that created and edited documents through Live Workspace since Google and some other competitors challenged them with low-cost product applications. or completely free.

' You will have many alternatives to SaaS (service-oriented software) or simplified versions of Office, and Microsoft will not have many competing solutions in this area, ' said Sheri McLeish.