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About.com Rating
Collaborating with others or using templates may be a priority for you. Here's what to expect from the free Microsoft Office Online suite.
The following are rated on a scale of Excellent, Good, or Poor.
Cloud Integration:Â Excellent
Microsoft Office Online is part of a larger cloud environment known as Microsoft OneDrive. You can integrate these online programs with Outlook.com, Microsoft's People features, and more.
Synchronous Collaborative Editing:Â Excellent
One of the best features of this online suite is the ability for more than one person to work on the same document at once, as long as each editor has been granted permission to view the document.
Online to Offline Editing:Â Excellent
By installing a desktop utility, users can work offline then sync back to their Office Online account once your online connection is restored.Â
Social Sharing:Â Excellent
Share documents by generating a unique online link or inviting users to share the document with you. Unlike Office 2013, Office Online does not share right to social networks.Â
Design Themes and Templates:Â Excellent
Depending on the program, you may find the design sets you have come to rely on. I use these most in PowerPoint and was pleasantly surprised to see my favorites included in PowerPoint Online, for example. In Word and Excel, I saw more limitations in this regard. Microsoft offers a lot of great templates, but not as many through its Office Online programs.
You may find that many Free Templates from Microsoft are less compatible with the Office Online version.Â
Add-ins and Apps:Â Excellent
With all this talk of streamlined features, you may be wondering about add-ins or apps which bring in additional tools to the desktop version of Office. These are not brought right into Office Online, but other apps are available in the same cloud ecosystem.
Â
A Final Recommendation for Microsoft Office Online
Please know that this review summarizes features I feel consumers are most concerned with when selecting office software suite for home or business use. Please refer to this manufacturer's site before finalizing your download or purchase.
About.com Rating
Collaborating with others or using templates may be a priority for you. Here's what to expect from the free Microsoft Office Online suite.
The following are rated on a scale of Excellent, Good, or Poor.
Cloud Integration:Â Excellent
Microsoft Office Online is part of a larger cloud environment known as Microsoft OneDrive. You can integrate these online programs with Outlook.com, Microsoft's People features, and more.
Synchronous Collaborative Editing:Â Excellent
One of the best features of this online suite is the ability for more than one person to work on the same document at once, as long as each editor has been granted permission to view the document.
Online to Offline Editing:Â Excellent
By installing a desktop utility, users can work offline then sync back to their Office Online account once your online connection is restored.Â
Social Sharing:Â Excellent
Share documents by generating a unique online link or inviting users to share the document with you. Unlike Office 2013, Office Online does not share right to social networks.Â
Design Themes and Templates:Â Excellent
Depending on the program, you may find the design sets you have come to rely on. I use these most in PowerPoint and was pleasantly surprised to see my favorites included in PowerPoint Online, for example. In Word and Excel, I saw more limitations in this regard. Microsoft offers a lot of great templates, but not as many through its Office Online programs.
You may find that many Free Templates from Microsoft are less compatible with the Office Online version.Â
Add-ins and Apps:Â Excellent
With all this talk of streamlined features, you may be wondering about add-ins or apps which bring in additional tools to the desktop version of Office. These are not brought right into Office Online, but other apps are available in the same cloud ecosystem.
Â
A Final Recommendation for Microsoft Office Online
Please know that this review summarizes features I feel consumers are most concerned with when selecting office software suite for home or business use. Please refer to this manufacturer's site before finalizing your download or purchase.
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