A Closer look at Microsoft Office 14 And Its Web Apps

The presentation of the new Office 14 at the recent Microsoft Professional Developer Conference was overshadowed by the announcement of Azure and Windows 7.

But Microsoft's most resilient cash cow is coming back with a vengeance as its fourteenth edition introduces web applications in a bid to fend off (or at least disrupt) the growing menace of Zoho Office or Google Docs.

Starting with Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote, users will now be able to work on documents simultaneously and in real time with other collaborators via their web-browser.

And in a clear message that shows that Microsoft now means business by announcing that the new Office online application would be compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari (and possibly Chrome which uses the same Webkit foundation).

The use of Microsoft Flash rival, Silverlight, will be encouraged as is the use of Internet Explorer although, as Microsoft made it clear, they are both optional.

Viewing OneNote notes in OneNote Web application.

Editing OneNote notes in OneNote Web application.