Office 2010 moves the Web and FREE

[str1f3]

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/13/the-complete-guide-to-microsofts-office-2010/

From TechCrunch:
"Most certainly a direct response to Google Apps, Microsoft is rolling out lightweight, FREE, Web browser versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote. All based in the cloud, the web-based versions of these products have fewer features than their desktop cousins but still give users basic tools to edit and change documents."

Apparently it will be ad-based. It won't be as full featured as the desktop version but it will have stuff like OneNote which Mac Office will not have and it will have less compatibility issues. This is clear they are going after Google Docs.

I'm excited about this because I can make more of a move to iWork and use Office for the web for compatibility. Although the UI is hideous.

Your opinions.

 

[sushi]

Looks interesting.

One thing is obvious, Google with their Google Docs has stired the giant at Microsoft.

 

[pdjudd]

I'm not too optimistic. I don't see anything on Microsoft's web site to indicate that it will be anything but Windows Only. I can't see any mention of it on the Mactopia website (the Microsoft Mac Business Unit) so I am not too optimistic about something that only gets mentioned on the main Website along with the Windows Office product (different from the Mac).

 

[str1f3]

I'm not too optimistic. I don't see anything on Microsoft's web site to indicate that it will be anything but Windows Only. I can't see any mention of it on the Mactopia website (the Microsoft Mac Business Unit) so I am not too optimistic about something that only gets mentioned on the main Website along with the Windows Office product (different from the Mac).

It says in the article that it was tested for Firefox and Safari which means it should work because it is entirely browser based.

 

[pdjudd]

It says in the article that it was tested for Firefox and Safari which means it should work because it is entirely browser based.

That doesn't mean much - I din;t get any idea of the web technologies that are involved. OWA works in Firefox and Safari, but the support compared to internet explorer is very different. All that tell us honestly is that it's not tied to IE. I would prefer some kind of comment from the MBU before I would say that it is anything outside of Windows. Maybe of we were talking about Work and PowerPoint and maybe excel (due to VBA) I would be more optimistic, but they are talking about programs like access and SharePoint - programs that MS has used to push for Windows usage. We will need to see more than what we know.

Of course it doesn't impress me that it is also being touted with a very limited set of features.

 

[str1f3]

That doesn't mean much - I din;t get any idea of the web technologies that are involved. OWA works in Firefox and Safari, but the support compared to internet explorer is very different. All that tell us honestly is that it's not tied to IE. I would prefer some kind of comment from the MBU before I would say that it is anything outside of Windows. Maybe of we were talking about Work and PowerPoint and maybe excel (due to VBA) I would be more optimistic, but they are talking about programs like access and SharePoint - programs that MS has used to push for Windows usage. We will need to see more than what we know.

Of course it doesn't impress me that it is also being touted with a very limited set of features.

Fair enough but I disagree. If that was the case they wouldn't have tested it against Firefox and Safari (considering its low use on Windows). They would have just used IE7/8 to boost up browser marketshare. I'm sure their proprietary angle with this is Silverlight. The free ad supported part is just Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote. All it's saying you need is a Windows Live ID. MacBU wouldn't have much to say about it because they would have no involvement. They're job is to port over Office to OSX.

It may not have the full features of Office but 99% never use most of those features. Most only care about compatibility. It will have far more features than Google Docs basic editing feature set.

AppleInsider is also reporting this story and makes no mention of it being tied to Windows. They would be the first to talk about any compatibility issues from the Mac user point of view.

 

[badoian]

they will use silverlight. which so far seems rather stable on the MAC

 

[str1f3]

they will use silverlight. which so far seems rather stable on the MAC

It's a smart way to increase their Silverlight base even though it still won't be adopted by the Web. HTML5 has too much support behind it.

 

[srl7741]

Spam

Ad Based? I will never use it. Ads are an insult to the user. If i want something I will seek it out on my own.

I see it as SPAM based Office Suite.

 

[PlaceofDis]

not surprising, i do wonder if it will work on Macs or if they will block it. wouldn't be very surprised either way. its a good step at refining the programs if nothing else, there really is a lot of junk in all of them that most people just don't need, and those who do, would probably be using the desktop version in any event.

 

[jdechko]

This and iWork.com are great and all, but what I want to know is when these services will allow you to work with documents stored by a different service. As far as major storage services, we have iDisk, Live Disk (or whatever MS calls it), Dropbox, Amazon S3. We have online document suites from Google and Apple and Microsoft are in the middle of launching theirs. And so far it appears that Google and Apple are limiting their services to only documents uploaded to their service.

What I'd love to see is the ability to open a document from storage place "A" into Editing service "B". I'm sure there is some work involved, but would it really be that hard? Imagine using your iDisk with GoogleDocs, or Dropbox with iWork.com or S3 with Office.com. That's the kind of integration we need to be able to have cloud computing.

 

[nadyne]

OWA works in Firefox and Safari, but the support compared to internet explorer is very different.

In Exchange 2010 (which is in public beta now), OWA works the same in IE, Firefox, and Safari. I've been using internal versions of it for months now in Safari, and it's quite nice. I'd only ever used the light version of OWA before, so having the full power of OWA available to me has been great. My favourite feature having my categories, notes, and tasks in OWA.

Regards,
Nadyne.

 

[pdjudd]

In Exchange 2010 (which is in public beta now), OWA works the same in IE, Firefox, and Safari. I've been using internal versions of it for months now in Safari, and it's quite nice. I'd only ever used the light version of OWA before, so having the full power of OWA available to me has been great. My favourite feature having my categories, notes, and tasks in OWA.

Regards,
Nadyne.

I understand what you are saying but that wasn't the case for many years of OWA - historically MS treats Apple very much as a second class citizen especially with Office. Of course the latest version of Exchange OWA being cross platform doesn't mean much for most people who work at companies with older versions of Exchange - our company for example is on 2003 and doesn't plan to upgrade to '07 for a couple more years (an aside point). Even though Exchange 2010 is in Beta, its wide adoption won;t realistically happen for most people. Right now even with 2007, Macs are second class citizens.

I simply an very doubtful that this is going to change with the online versions of Office which even if similar programs differ greatly on different platforms. I could be wrong though. Does the MBU have any comment on this announcement since the development of Windows office and Mac office is very different?

 

[exegete77]

In Exchange 2010 (which is in public beta now), OWA works the same in IE, Firefox, and Safari. I've been using internal versions of it for months now in Safari, and it's quite nice. I'd only ever used the light version of OWA before, so having the full power of OWA available to me has been great. My favourite feature having my categories, notes, and tasks in OWA.

Regards,
Nadyne.

Thanks, Nadyne. Just out of curiosity, are you able to blog about the fact that you have been using 2010 on your Mac? It would be nice to see something about it for Macs.

 

[nadyne]

I understand what you are saying but that wasn't the case for many years of OWA.

I understand. My point is simply that there are some major improvements in Mac support here.

Does the MBU have any comment on this announcement since the development of Windows office and Mac office is very different?

As the announcement said, it works in IE, Firefox, and Safari. There's a lot of work that's gone into ensuring that it works on Safari. I'm sure that there will be in-depth articles in the tech press coming in the near future with plenty of details of what the various browser support is like in practice.

Thanks, Nadyne. Just out of curiosity, are you able to blog about the fact that you have been using 2010 on your Mac? It would be nice to see something about it for Macs.

Your best man for this is Paul Robichaux. Paul is an Exchange MVP and a Mac user. When Exchange 2010 was announced earlier this year, he posted some OWA screenshots, all of which were taken on Safari.

Regards,
Nadyne.

 

[killerrobot]

Looks as nice as the google apps which I use everyday.

I wonder about it's import/export capability? Will it play nicely with other formats or will everything be saved as .xml to only be offline with Office?

 

[tecknical]

I'll stick with my Google docs and regular MS office for now. I don't want this AD BASED stuff Microsoft is throwing at us.

 

[str1f3]

I'll stick with my Google docs and regular MS office for now. I don't want this AD BASED stuff Microsoft is throwing at us.

It depends on the kinds of ads. If it is less intrusive a la Google Docs then fine. If I'm going to get bombarded with flashing Silverlight ads then no. It does, however, have the ability to be incredibly useful especially for students who are strapped for cash.

 

[r.j.s]

Your best man for this is Paul Robichaux. Paul is an Exchange MVP and a Mac user. When Exchange 2010 was announced earlier this year, he posted some OWA screenshots, all of which were taken on Safari.

Regards,
Nadyne.

Adding to this, my email is using Exchange 2010, and the OWA on Mac is really nice. I may be able to help answer questions as well.

 

[jaw04005]

The MacBU has nothing to do with the online versions of Office. This is being developed out of Redmond's Office unit.

It would be like asking the MacBU to comment on Hotmail, Windows Live or Bing compatibility.

 

[KingYaba]

I do not plan on using web apps.

 

[exegete77]

The MacBU has nothing to do with the online versions of Office. This is being developed out of Redmond's Office unit.

It would be like asking the MacBU to comment on Hotmail, Windows Live or Bing compatibility.

Of course, but since some had noted that nothing was said about Mac compatibility and Nadyne commented that she has used it, it seems logical that anything she (or anyone in the MacBU) who uses it would provide more information than the “official” releases.

 

[pdjudd]

I understand. My point is simply that there are some major improvements in Mac support here. .

Oh I agree. Changes are being made. For the record I wish our company would upgrade to 2010. I don't see this happening for a looong time. I run across people that are still running Exchange 2000. Most people are still on Exchange 2003. I personally don't know anyone who uses 2007 outside of the hosted solutions. But thats just me...

 

[r.j.s]

Oh I agree. Changes are being made. For the record I wish our company would upgrade to 2010. I don't see this happening for a looong time. I run across people that are still running Exchange 2000. Most people are still on Exchange 2003. I personally don't know anyone who uses 2007 outside of the hosted solutions. But thats just me...

Well, 2010 still has a few issues - at least on our servers. It's not prime-time ready yet, but it is getting there.

 

[pdjudd]

Well, 2010 still has a few issues - at least on our servers. It's not prime-time ready yet, but it is getting there.

Expected to be done the second half of the year. Of course that doesn't imply that to will take off. I haven't heard much on it outside of the basic screen shots and what I have read off of Microsoft's website. Thats a real small percentage.