Office Web Apps will provide web-based versions for desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and even OneNote. Of course, storing and sharing Office documents on the Web is not a new thing. Previously, Microsoft's Office Live Workspace was able to save and manage documents online. However, Office Web Apps provide an advantage by allowing you to actually create and edit documents through a browser. Ultimately, Office Web Apps will inevitably replace Office Live Workspace.
Compared to the full set of functions provided in the desktop version, the editing commands in Web Apps only provide the most basic functions. However, these basic functions can help users more easily update documents and collaborate on the same documents.
Users can save their documents through the Windows Live SkyDrive service (Microsoft's free online storage area), and SkyDrive is completely an online storage site. SkyDrive can provide up to 250GB of free space, making it an ideal storage location for large files and documents that require online access but do not require synchronization. Enterprises using SharePoint can create repositories for these documents to store them internally on their SharePoint servers. Finally, companies using specific Microsoft online services such as SharePoint Online can store documents in the cloud.
Office Web Apps is currently a beta version. Before using Web Apps, you need to first install Office 2010 Beta. After installing Office 2010, you can start Word, Excel, or PowerPoint to try out Office Web Apps.
Take Word as an example. First, create or open a document in Word, and then click on the 'File' menu to access the Backstage. When using Office 2010 for the first time, you can quickly save and open documents and run other commonly used commands through Backstage. From the Backstage, click the 'Share' command, and then click 'Save to SkyDrive'. The system will prompt you to log in to SkyDrive using a Windows Live account.
Four default folders will be displayed - 'Photos',' Videos', 'Documents', and' Public Folder '. The first three folders store items for personal viewing only, while the 'public folder' contains files that you want to share with others. Double click on one of the folders, such as' Documents'. A common "Save As" dialog box will pop up, where you can choose the name and file format of the document, and then save it.
After saving the document to SkyDrive for the first time, you must log in directly to your SkyDrive account through your browser to accept the Web Apps usage agreement. In SkyDrive, select the 'Documents' folder, then select the document you just saved, and then click the' View 'command. A protocol will be displayed, and the document can only pop up in your browser after you accept it. After accepting the agreement, you can save and open online documents more smoothly.
After establishing a workspace through SkyDrive, you don't need to install Office 2010 locally to access documents. Through a browser, you can create, edit, view, delete, copy, move, rename, and download documents.
You can share documents with others through Web Apps, requiring you to send links to your documents to everyone via email. Users with Windows Live accounts and access rights can view and edit these shared documents online.
Web Apps can only run in environments with Internet Explorer 7 and 8 installed; Firefox 3.5 or higher is required to be installed on Windows, Linux, and Mac; Safari 4.0 or higher is also required to be installed on the Mac.