Understanding the Benefits of Office Web Apps

There is a lot of good news to tell you about Office Web Apps. Many people believe that Office Web Apps are a replacement for the Microsoft Office programs on your computer, but that’s incorrect. Office Web Apps are companions to your Microsoft Office programs. They do not replace your desktop applications unless your content creation needs are extremely basic.

considering that Office Web Apps are quite new as of this writing, I think it might be useful to provide some different scenarios in which these applications can be particularly handy. You are likely to have your own to add to this list before long. But here are a few examples of how I’ve already seen Office Web Apps used to save time or simplify work:

·         If you’re traveling or your job takes you out of the office, storing your files (or a copy of them) online gives you easier access. With Office Web Apps, you can view those files and even make quick edits without opening them in the Microsoft Office desktop applications. So you can get things done from whatever computer happens to be handy.

 

·         When a company migrates to a new version of Microsoft Office, it can take time to move everyone over. In the past, migrations (especially in large companies) have caused a lot of pain and frustration when users in the same company are working on different versions and trying to share the same files. But if you have to share with users who are still using an earlier version of Microsoft Office, those users can edit your Office 2010 or Office 2011 files online.

·         On many group projects, particularly with people who don’t work in the same organization, being able to share and edit files online helps simplify tasks and save time. You don’t need to be concerned with what version of Microsoft Office others use, or even whether they have Microsoft Office on their computers. And the files are always accessible to everyone on the team.

·         When you don’t even have a computer handy and need to take a quick look at a document or find information in it, you can use the mobile version of Office Web Apps to access and view Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents right from the browser on your smartphone.

 

It’s also important to point out that Office Web Apps are young applications in their first version, with new features surely still to come. In fact, we’ve already seen some new features added in the months since the original release of Office Web Apps.

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