Screenshot of Word Online, as of November 2015[update]
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Type of site
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Owner | Microsoft |
Created by | Microsoft |
Website | office |
Alexa rank | 66 (October, 2016[update]) |
Commercial | Freemium |
Registration | Mandatory for web mail and file sharing; optional for others |
Launched | June 7, 2010 |
Office Online (known before 2014 as Office Web Apps) is an online office suite offered by Microsoft, which allows users to create and edit files using lightweight, web browser-based versions of Microsoft Office apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. The offering also includes Outlook.com, People, Calendar and OneDrive, all of which are accessible from a unified app switcher. Users can install the on-premises version of this service, called Office Web Apps Server, in private clouds in conjunction with Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Lync Server.
Office Web Apps was first revealed on October 2008 at PDC 2008 in Los Angeles. Chris Capossela, senior vice president of Microsoft business division, introduced Office Web Apps as lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote that allow people to create, edit and collaborate on Office documents through a web browser. According to Capossela, Office Web Apps was to become available as a part of Office Live Workspace. Office Web Apps was announced to be powered by AJAX as well as Silverlight; however, the latter is optional and its availability will only "enhance the user experience, resulting in sharper images and improved rendering." Microsoft's Business Division President Stephen Elop stated during PDC 2008 that "a technology preview of Office Web Apps would become available later in 2008". However, the Technical Preview of Office Web Apps was not released until 2009.