Cloud Wars: Microsoft Office Web Apps or Google Docs?

At Wordwide Partner Conference in New Orleans, Microsoft announced the technical preview of Microsoft Office 2010. Concurrently, Microsoft also revealed more details about Office Web Apps. The apps are lightweight, browser-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.


The web apps will be hosted on Windows Live (that is available to anyone with a Windows Live account) and will be available for free. The online storage will be managed through SkyDrive. However, few functions will be available only if Microsoft Silverlight is installed. The good news being that Silverlight is not required to run most of the features of the web applications – it is to enhance the user experience for sharper images and better rendering.

The web-based applications are designed to work on any browser (Firefox, Safari, IE) plus on most mobile browsers. It doesn’t matter which Operating System is used if you have the right browser. Another great attraction for enterprises is that they can host Web Apps on their own servers on top of SharePoint! meaning no compromise on security. The educational institutions will get the apps for free, students will get Office Web applications through Office Live Workspace and universities will get it through the free Live@edu service.