Desert highway with cloudsWhen you use Office Web Apps (convenient little companions to the desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote), all your documents are created, edited, and stored on a server...a server located somewhere near...in the clouds... This is where the term "cloud computing" comes in: web apps allow you to view, share, and work on documents across personal computers, mobile telephones, and the Web. Look up—chances are there's a Word doc floating above your head just waiting to be worked on...

 

 

What they are and how they work:

  • Office Web Apps offer a new way to store your documents so that they can be viewed and edited in the browser...virtually any browser.
  • They're just like web pages because they're stored on a website and displayed in the browser. You access the web apps through Windows Live Skydrive (cool name, huh?).
  • To view a document, you click it; to shares with others, you send a link.
  • Easy access, easy sharing.
  • With the Excel and OneNote apps you can work with others on the same document at the same time.
  • It doesn’t matter whether your version of Office matches what your friends or colleagues have. There’s no need to download a viewer. Your documents look the same in the browser as they do in the Office programs. As well,  your images, borders, text effects, etc. content look just as good as they do in your desktop applications. I mean, it's not like you're getting text-only versions of your documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and notebooks. As if!

What versions of Office you need to use Office Web Apps

  • None. Certain features (such as the Open command in the browser, be it Internet Explorer or Firefox) are enabled when you have Office 2010 or other versions, but even if you don't have any version Office on your desktop, you can create documents in the browser for viewing editng, and sharing.
  • With Office 2010 you can save to the browser right from your desktop application.
  • With Office 2003 and prior, the only difference is that you don’t have Save to Web directly in the desktop program but you can upload files just like you do any other file.

Miniature Schnauzer being groomed

Now that's what I call a modern convenience—like heated towel racks or and mobile pet grooming trucks—that no one should be forced to live without.

Tell me more!

"You must not blame me if I do talk to the clouds."—Henry David Thoreau

— Crabby