News |
Watch out Google - Office 2010 is hereMicrosoft has been the dominant force in office software for as long as anyone can remember. However recently Google have started making very threatening inroads into this territory with Google Apps, which essentially include Web based versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Office 2010 is about to change all that.Google Apps is an impressive; low cost and completely Web based technology. All you need is a browser. No complex installations and configuration. As well as online word processing, spreadsheets and presentations, you can upload Word, Excel and other documents and it's all searchable of course. There is also loads of SharePoint type functionality to the extent that documents can be shared between users and document versions maintained, users can add and edit web pages and add gadgets (aka web parts) to pages. In contrast Office 2007 consists of large desktop applications that need to be installed. SharePoint and Exchange are also not trivial to install and configure. Google's marketing even targets these products by saying "Learn how switching from Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes helps you save money and reduce IT hassles". Microsoft themselves have offered online versions of some of the office products for some time. These come in the form of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite, which is hosted by Microsoft, and consists of Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Live Meeting, and Office Communications Online. The absence of the actual Office products such as Word is notable. However on 15th April 2010 all changed when Office 2010 was released to manufacturing and is now available for purchase. SharePoint 2010 is also released at the same time. Microsoft has definitely taken stock and looked at what the competition had to offer, but in the process it has not forgotten its own traditional strengths. The numbers of new features and applications are far too numerous to mention here but a few definitely stand out: We now have "Microsoft Office Web Apps" and "Microsoft Office Mobile 2010": Online web based and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. These online and mobile applications are not quite as powerful as their desktop counterparts, but you can edit safely with the knowledge that any rich content will be preserved in the file as you edit, so that it will still be available when opened in the full application. For example, if you edit a Word document on your phone you won't be able to update the SmartArt Graphics but they will be available when you open the document on your PC. The online version is similar, for example; content controls in a Word will be displayed in preview mode but cannot be edited in edit mode, so for example if you Word document connects to a database, runs a query and displays a chart in a content control then you can see the chart in the web version of Word but you have to use the PC version of Word to edit it. The fact that the web (and mobile apps) are less functional than the PC version is not at all surprising because we cannot expect the whole PC office suite to be implemented in a web page. Incidental users can just use the web or mobile apps. Serious users can use the PC apps or a combination of both. The fact is you have both. Google Apps have even less functionality that the web apps and for those there is no PC equivalent (at least not yet). Microsoft did not stop there either. They have also introduced a new product in Office 2010 called Microsoft SharePoint Workspace 2010. This allows a user to synchronise documents on a SharePoint site with a user's PC or Mobile phone. In effect this means that it keeps a local copy so you can edit locally while travelling and SharePoint Workspace will keep the copies all in sync when connected. Microsoft has got the balance right. Most users out there are not yet ready to give up their PC applications because they like the rich functionality and power. However when you are travelling you can still connect online using your phone or at an Internet café if you need to review or update a document. You can also have SharePoint Workspace keep you a local copy and manage the synchronisation. They have got all options covered. It is up to Google to try and beat that now! What's more impressive is that this article only mentions 3 of the new Office 2010 features and there are hundreds more! For more information on BC’s capabilities in delivering complex business solutions on the Microsoft platform, please contact us at andrew.chalmers@ballardchalmers.com or call 01342 410223. Related links
|
