Google does a pretty good job of reading and writing Office documents, but for advanced formatting in Word or high-powered math functions in Excel there is no substitute for Office.

Both Office Online and Google have you well covered.Ĭompatibility with MS Office document formats is one of the key differences between the two services. Of course, you need a Google account to use Drive Apps, and that comes with all sort of other productivity apps: Gmail, Google Talk/Chat, and the optional Google Voice virtual phone number service, to name a few. These Drive Apps correspond to MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, respectively. The apps include Docs (word processing), Sheets (spreadsheets), and Slides (presentations). The latter is now found at the Google Drive site where it’s called Drive Apps. The free version of Office Online competes with Google Docs. It’s good to see Microsoft finally admit there are other browsers. Supported Web browsers include Internet Explorer 7 or later and the latest versions of Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari. It’s still free for those who register a Microsoft account. Office Online includes these four plus Outlook, Calendar, People (contacts), and OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) for cloud storage and collaboration. So what can this free online version of Microsoft Office do for you? Office Web Apps provided free access to cloud-based, lightweight versions of four popular Office modules: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. You just login to a website, and the software runs right in your web browser. Perhaps the best part (besides the absence of a price tag) is that cloud-based software requires no download, installation or updates. The latest news is that it’s now renamed Office Online and it incorporates some apps not found in its predecessor. Microsoft's first stab at going online with its flagship Office productivity suite was called “Microsoft Web Apps.”

Microsoft is refining its cloud-based productivity software offerings in an effort to catch up with Google Apps, which currently holds a commanding lead in this fast-growing market. You needn't be concerned about the software police knocking on your door, or getting a nasty virus from a rogue pirated version of Office. They don't have every feature found in their desktop counterparts, but for most tasks they'll get the job done. For several years, Microsoft has been quietly offering a free online version of some popular Office products, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

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