Microsoft’s free Office Web Apps include streamlined, online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote Office apps. These apps are usable in various browsers and offer the capability to view or edit Office documents on your devices, anywhere you go.
Word Web App – Tell Me what you want to do
A feature by the name Tell Me what you want to do has been added to simplify the task of finding tools on the ribbon. In my view, this will simplify the learning curve of using the Word Office Web App to a great extent.
The blank field with a faint ‘Tell Me’ command display would help users search quickly the tool they are looking for, thereby saving extra efforts in finding them and putting eyes at a strain. Microsoft describes the feature as a sort of virtual assistant for Word, appearing as a search box near the top of the screen.
All the web app user has to do is enter a text or a keyword related to his search, and Tell Me would present him with shortcuts to a few possible options. The best part of it is you do not need to be an expert in the language and enter a precise term for what you’re trying to find.
For instance, searching for “make text larger” shows up a “grow font” option, quite similar to what you are looking for. While looking for “horizontal” instantly displays a landscape orientation button.
Apart from the ‘Tell Me’ feature, Microsoft has also fine-tuned its Office Web Apps interface to make them slightly easier to use. A redesigned header now shows the file name in the middle. At any time, you can change it by just hovering your cursor over there and clicking over the name.
Next, there’s also a “Share” button visible in the upper-right-hand corner of your app screen. Hitting the button opens up a share screen to share the document directly via SkyDrive.
Other added functionalities include supporting footnotes and endnotes in the Word Web App and improving rendering support for Shapes, Textboxes, and WordArt.
It seems Microsoft is investing more heavily in Office Web Apps, with new features and more marketing, as reported earlier by John Case, the Office division’s corporate vice president. For users looking to work with web apps in a distraction-free environment by hiding unwanted settings from direct view, Tell Me appears as the best offering.
Microsoft has confirmed that the Tell Me features would “soon” be rolled out to the PowerPoint and OneNote Web Apps.
Does Word Web App work offline?
WordWeb or Microsoft Word Online needs a constant internet connection to open and save the documents. It may keep a browser backup if you go offline for a while, but all changes will be lost if the browser is closed when there is no network. It would always be best to keep a local copy if there is an issue.
