Microsoft launches Office Web apps in India 

Bangalore: Microsoft India has launched Office Web Apps in India. The apps will enable users to access its office applications Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, for free using their Windows Live ID on the SkyDrive or Hotmail.

According to the company, this will also allow users to create, view, edit, and share Office documents from anywhere with an Internet connection.

“Office Web Apps are a key piece of Microsoft’s overall cloud strategy and are designed to empower people to take their familiar productivity experience on the web,” said Mr. Sanjay Manchanda, Director, Microsoft Business Division.

“Features like ease of sharing and high document fidelity make Office Web Apps a powerful enabler of productivity in the cloud for modern information workers and consumers alike. Moreover, this is a great tool for students to collaborate on their school and college projects in a seamless way”, he added.

Office Web Apps provide consistent formatting of a document with full images and footnotes, table borders and text effects to the user. To start with Office Web Apps, users only require a Windows Live ID, a supported web browser (IE, Firefox, Chrome or Safari) and an Internet connection. Moreover, team members can work together using Office Web Apps, regardless of what version of Microsoft Office they use and whether they work on a PC or a Mac.

According to Microsoft's claim, over 30 m users worldwide are already using beta version of Office Web Apps in just over six months after they were introduced. Microsoft also announced in November 2010 that Facebook users who are using its new messaging service are now able to view Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents directly in Facebook with the Office Web Apps, making it even easier for people to access and share information across different devices, networks and platforms. Users can also view Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on Windows Live SkyDrive via Office Web Apps on most modern smartphones.