Office Web Apps have received a significant update that adds a number of features to the suite. One of the key new addition is the introduction of real-time collaborative working, meaning that two or more people can view and edit the same document simultaneously. Changes are shown as they are made and any edits are automatically saved to help avoid the risk of data loss.
This is a suite-wide change, but there have also been changes and additions made to individual apps. The web-based version of Word now includes support for headers, footers and page numbers, and the table styling that will be familiar to users of the desktop apps has also been added. Other new features include pages break support and Find & Replace.
It doesn’t end there — Excel also benefits from this round of updates. Sheet protection is now available, supplementing the Freeze Panes feature added earlier in the year, and sheets can also be reordered. You can forget cutting and pasting cell contents from one location to another a drag and drop has been added, and there is now the handing option of people able to rename a worksheet while it is open.
A few changes have been made to PowerPoint, although it does not gain as many new options or features. There’s a new picture cropping feature as well as improved file renaming.
Microsoft has produced a video that shows off some of Word’s new features:
Further reading: Microsoft, Office Web Apps
