Microsoft totally overhauled the Office software for this new version, with cloud technology as the new central feature. However, the company has released some enhancements to the suite, which includes online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, focusing on core four areas: document authoring, touch interface support, collaboration and performance, Microsoft said last week.
In fact, it will be few months before the new Office for Windows hits the market and pricing has not been announced. But initially, Office Web Apps, was launched about two years ago and used by about 50 million people per month, which consists of a subset of the functionality of the applications in the full-featured, PC-installed Office suite.
And being a cloud-hosted suite, Office Web Apps have been enhanced routinely on the backend by Microsoft, but the latest set of improvements being tested now are significant, according to a blog post by Mike Morton, group program manager for Office Web Applications at Microsoft.
“This update is by far the most significant we have ever done and we hope others are as excited about the changes as we are,” he wrote.
Now, for small businesses, the new Office software could eventually make it easier to work on the go from a variety of different devices. SkyDrive, Office 2013’s cloud storage service could make storing and sharing data much more seamless than it has been in previous versions of Microsoft Office. Besides, business owners and employees will have the ability to access Office 2013 on the Microsoft Surface tablet and other touch-screen devices. Office 2013 also integrates Skype compatibility for easy collaboration on a variety of projects.
On the other hand, Office Web Apps is similar to Google Docs in that they are both hosted by their respective vendors and used via browsers, and neither comes close to matching the functionality in the full-featured Office suite.
Going forward, those keen on tinkering out the new version of Office Web Apps can log in to their SkyDrive online storage service account via this special link: http://skydrive.live.com/?officebeta=1.
When inquired about this earlier in the week, a spokeswoman for Microsoft said via email that users of the new Office might find Office Web Apps handy in situations when using the browser as the client software is most convenient.
“It is great for document viewing, editing and sharing — especially on the go,” the spokeswoman said.
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