Following the launch of rebranded SkyDrive cloud service OneDrive yesterday, Microsoft is presenting their second rebrand in as many days with Office Online.
The company seems to be turning their sights to greater cloud computing integration and co-authoring with their two latest announcements. Office Web Apps and Office.com have now combined to become a brand new product with many of the same features.
Office Online will rely heavily on the browser version of Office that allows people to connect with their related files from multiple devices, and collaborate with others on the same files remotely.
Mostly, however, this is a rebanding to make the name more clear. The inclusion of the word ‘app’ in the name caused some confusion with uses who wondered if they had to install anything like a traditional app. It was a fairly unusual name for them to have chosen for what was, literally, Office that was used online.
Microsoft is being as clear as possible about how to use this and other related products:
Go to Office.com to start using Word Online, Excel Online, PowerPoint Online and OneNote Online today, their official blog statement read.
All you need to get started is a Microsoft Account (available with any email address) and once you log in, you can use these free online versions of the Office applications you know and trust. Your files are automatically saved to OneDrive, so you can share them with others and work together on documents, presentations, spreadsheets and notebooks in real-time.
New CEO Satya Nadella seems to be dedicated to simplifying the mess of complications left in the wake of Ballmer’s legacy. For reasons unknown, a number of processes during that era were made much more complex than they needed to be. Hence why so many consumers have been turned off of various products.
Hopefully this idea spreads to other areas of their catalog. Their mobile interface is annoyingly cluttered and lacking customization, and their decision to make Windows 8 match it was not a good one. Considering they are already looking to jump to Windows 9, it isn’t a surprise.
Source: Office Blog
