We just announced here at PDC our Office Web Applications – yep, Office is coming to the browser. I’ll write more on this later but one thing I’ll say up front is this is a very capable version of Office. Much more so than Google Docs IMHO and yes, they will work in IE, Firefox and Safari for creation and editing of Word, PowerPoint and Excel and OneNote.
Some early coverage from Richard MacManus at ReadWriteWeb who have been discussing this topic for quite some time.
Game on.
Hooray Office is now a pain in the ass in my web browser too
"this is a very capable version of Office. Much more so than Google Docs IMHO"
You Microsoft guys miss the point at such a deep level it's amusing. You think having a longer list of features will gain you more users, when in reality, users just want a simple clean solution that will work when they really need it. Google has a much better reputation (gmail vs. hotmail - need I say more?) when it comes to simple clean solutions, so.... good luck with this whole thing.
Also, wow, you need to learn english.
"they will work he apps will in IE, Firefox and Safari for creation and editing of Word, PowerPoint and Excel and OneNote." - huh?
Call me when you port WordPad to a web app
You mean it will work on my Firefox *on Linux* without Silverlight™ or other cr*p?
How can you guys get so angry over a product that I'm sure will help huge amounts of people around the world that don’t understand or know about Google docs etc etc, the fact is, like it or not, that Microsoft Office is used/understood by most people in the world so they are used to it and having it in a browser can only be for the common good. Why be angry !
Big Love,
Chris
Google might have provided a clean implementation, but I see it as a rather shallow and shortsighted product. They may have started out strong, but gradually the novelty of their various products has worn off, and I've found myself moving on to other pastures.
In this case Microsoft has held back until they could deliver a rich set of tools that addresses complete end-to-end scenarios with very deep integration with other products. Microsoft really gets the fact that in many cases people are going to be more comfortable having the same experience from anywhere. I think that the Office web apps do a better job of addressing common scenarios that I face, and in a way that fits in with the workflow's and technologies that I'm already using.
great to see all the strong opinions in here and thanks for being my spell checker HaHa.
Does Google Docs have a spell check btw? genuingely curious?
Steve
meagain - yes, my understanding is there is AJAX downlevel but I may be wrong. Silverlight experience will be better though and is coming to Linux soon