Microsoft Office Web Apps: all the questions answered

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 17 Sep 2009 at 18:00

Microsoft is today taking the wraps off its answer to Google Docs: Microsoft Office Web Apps, the online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

The company is offering pre-beta test versions of the online suite to third parties for the first time, following the launch of the Office 2010 Technical Preview earlier this summer.

Here's our guide to Microsoft's first foray into the world of online applications.

How can I test the Office Web Apps?
Alas, you can't right now - unless you're one of the lucky few handpicked by Microsoft to test out the software. The company is planning a full public beta of the Office Web Apps before the end of the year, however. We'll let you know as soon as we hear the date. PC Pro is being given access to the beta: keep an eye on the site for a full preview in the coming days.

Aren't the Web Apps just stripped down versions of the desktop software?

Yes and no. Microsoft claims Web App documents will offer the same high fidelity as the desktop clients, so graphs, images and slides will appear exactly the same in the Web Apps as they do in Office 2010. Making edits in the Web Apps won't affect the quality of the document (for example, images won't lose detail).

However, not all of the features of the desktop software will be available in the Web Apps. While most of the features people use every day remain intact, Microsoft's Office Live product manager, Tim Kimber, was keen to explain that "if you want to get into [features such as] deep pivot tables, you should be doing it on your desktop PC."

Will I need a copy of Office 2010 on my PC to use the Office Web Apps?
No. The Office Web Apps will eventually be offered for free to anyone with a Windows Live account, with documents stored in Microsoft's SkyDrive, which offers an impressive 25GB of free storage. However, there's currently a 50MB limit on individual file uploads.

Businesses can choose to either store documents on their own SharePoint servers or Microsoft's hosted service.

How much is this going to cost me?
The service will be free for consumers. Kimber said Microsoft is still working out how or whether businesses will be charged for the online apps. "There may be some licences where it's included in the price, and others where there's an incremental charge," he suggested.

Isn't Microsoft shooting itself in the foot by effectively giving away a free version of Office online? What's in it for the company?

"There will be some revenue in the [consumer version] as it's ad-supported," said Kimber. "It's not like we've turned into a charity." Perish the thought.

Quite how and where these ads will appear is currently unclear.

Will I be able to share documents online?
Yes, Microsoft claims you'll have full control over your online documents, including password-protected folders and permission management. Alternatively, you can decide to publish a document online for everyone to see.

Can I publish documents to my website or blog?
Yes, content from Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint slides can be posted on your own sites. The clever part is that graphs/slides will be updated on your site whenever you update the original spreadsheet/presentation.

Can two people edit a document simultaneously?
Only in Excel and OneNote. It's one at a time in Word docs and PowerPoint presentations, which could be both a blessing and a curse.

Will there be any version control?
Not currently, but Microsoft claims it will be available by launch time, with the option to revert back to the last 50-100 versions of a document.

Can I save documents from the Office client software to my SkyDrive?
Yes, but only from Office 2010 - which is clearly one of the incentives Microsoft hopes will lure people to upgrade. Users of earlier versions of Office will be able to download and edit online documents in the client software, but it certainly won't be as seamless.

Does the current Web Apps pre-beta have all these features switched on?
No. Far from it. Currently, you can only create and edit documents in Excel and PowerPoint - Word is view only. OneNote's not ready at all. Co-authoring is currently limited to Excel.

When will Microsoft launch the final version of the Office Web Apps?
Alongside the launch of Office 2010, which is likely to arrive in the first half of next year.