Microsoft readies online Office

Posted on 14 Jul 2009 at 11:12

Microsoft has revealed more information about the suite of online Office applications it plans to introduce next year.

To coincide with the launch of of Office 2010 for Windows. the company will introduce lightweight, browser-based versions of Word, PowerPoint and Excel

But don’t expect the web applications to have all the tools available on the desktop. Microsoft’s Office client product manager Chris Adams told PC Pro that the company is “not looking to achieve feature parity across the PC and the browser”, but will “replicate features that make the most sense for what people are doing”.

And Microsoft will ensure that users will not lose formatting, content or fidelity when editing online.

Microsoft revealed last year that the online apps would be free and available to Mac users with support for both Safari and Firefox.

The company’s Mac division has not yet said when the next desktop version of Office for OS X will be available, though generally it follows around a year after the Windows version, which Microsoft expects to ship in the first half of next year.

The introduction of online apps mirrors what Apple is doing with iWork.com, though the online versions of iWork’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote, currently in beta, do not yet allow for document editing.

Both companies have taken a connected approach, where desktop apps are integrated with web equivalents. That contrasts with Google, whose Docs applications are only available online.

Author: Simon Aughton

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