It is possible to log into Office Web Apps from other locations in the world and use all of the features offered. The only downside currently is that it may not be presented in the local language but in English as those updates will be rolling out later this year.

A Windows Live account is required to use the service. Office Web Apps allow a logged in user to upload documents, edit documents and create new documents. Supported are Office Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote documents including the 2007 Office formats docx, xlsx and pptx.

The official homepage of the Office Web Apps service can be accessed by loading Office.live.com in the web browser of choice. Documents can be simply uploaded by using the available file uploader or by uploading them with third party software like the Windows Live SkyDrive Explorer.

office web apps

The main Office Web Apps window displays recent documents, document editing activities of friends that have been added by the Windows Live user and options to create new Word, Excel, PowerPoint or OneNote.

Hovering the mouse over a document displays links to edit it right in the web browser, share it or check the version history, properties and download it to the local computer system.

A click on edit in browser opens a new screen that looks similar to the Office 2010 interface. New documents are converted automatically by Office Web Apps so that they can be edited in the browser. Most text editing and manipulation controls from Office are also available online. Documents are saved automatically, it is however possible to download a copy, share the document with other users or save it under a different name online.

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Office Web Apps on SkyDrive supports other features including work collaboration, mobile access by browsing to the same website and instant messaging.

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Office 2010, the new version of Microsoft’s document management software, offers Office Web Apps integration. It is for instance possible to send local documents to SkyDrive so that they can be edited from Office Web Apps.

A limited technical preview of Office Web Apps was announced yesterday. Interested users could apply to become part of the technical preview but there was no instant way to get access to Office Web Apps at that time.

Instead of having to wait days, week or even months before they get accepted users can do the following to get instant access to Microsoft’s Office Web Apps preview.

It starts by logging into Windows Live Skydrive. Users who do not use English as their main language might need to change the language to English first before they can continue with the process.

Upload at least one Office document. The following screen should appear after uploading that document:

A sentence with a link to join the preview program should be visible above the uploaded document. A click on that link will open a license agreement page. Accepting the license will automatically enable the Office Web Apps Technical Preview for that account.

A new menu entry will be displayed in the header afterwards called new. A click on that opens a submenu with options to create a new Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, Microsoft Word document, Microsoft Excel workbook or Microsoft OneNote notebook.

Only Excel workbooks and PowerPoint presentations are available at this moment in time. It is also possible to edit Excel and PowerPoint files that have been uploaded. Files that can be edited will have an Edit option in the top menu indicating that. via Liveside

Probably the two most interesting aspects of the announcement of Office Web Apps is that it will be completely free and compatible with browsers other than Microsoft Internet Explorer. Microsoft has not been very specific about the requirements but Brian Hall mentioned Firefox and Safari in the announcement. It is likely that additional web browsers will be supported as well. There have also been no information regarding access from other operating systems like Linux or Mac at this point.

Office Web Apps can be interesting for many users who sometimes work on computer systems where Microsoft Office is not installed. It would allow them to work with their Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents online. This would get rid of formatting problems and other difficulties when editing these documents in Office alternatives.

Interested users can apply to become a part of the Office Web Apps beta test.