back to article Office Web App upgrade adds long-needed features

Coming on the heels of Microsoft's Office 2013 announcement, Redmond has launched a new version of its browser-based Office Web Apps, which are available now to SkyDrive users who join the preview program. Mike Morton, group program manager for Office Web Apps, detailed the changes in the new version in a Friday post on …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Windows

    Very mixed feelings

    I don't use the webapps all that often but in all honesty I do admire them, even though they're limited when compared to the desktop apps.

    As said; mixed feelings. I admire the stuff they did and the enhancements they implemented. Most of all we shouldn't forget that this is basically a free service which I also admire.

    But having tried the new Word (in both SeaMonkey /and/ "as intended" in MSIE 9) I have very mixed feelings. I don't like the ALL CAPS TABS. Its too "loud", it draws my attention due to the ALL CAPS while it shouldn't do that IMO because "Low Caps" automatically make you pay a little more attention (IMO) to what you're doing.

    I have Word open, I want to add stuff so I select: "Invoegen" ('Insert', my Word is localized). The '3d' and gradient (semi-transparent) look is enough to achieve the 'tabbed look'.

    I have Word webapp open and in general the same applies. My backstage 'File' is blue and gradient, and the 'Insert' tab looks clean and neat. "Insert".

    This new setup is too screaming to my liking. HOME INSERT PAGE LAYOUT VIEW.

    Give me a break here!

    As said; I don't use the webapps that often but sporadically. If this gets through then I'm pretty certain that I won't use the webapps ever again. The interface is flat, the tabs are SCREAMING and maybe its just me but the flat colour interface is plain out annoying to look at.

    Current webapps: The paste icon is a yellow clipboard with a paper in front, selected options are in yellow while my overall theme is in blue (my file backstage tab is blue gradient). Because of the different colour its easy to spot the current selections.

    New webapps: /Everything/ is in blue. Apart from the paste icon which all of a sudden looks flat and lame. But options such as alignment, font selection, its all blueish. The same colour as the overall theme which makes it /very/ easy to overlook because it all looks the same.

    As such; mixed feelings. I admire the effort but I dislike the current interface quite heavily. Its too noisy.

    1. Phoenix50
      Thumb Up

      Re: Very mixed feelings

      Horses for courses? I really like to new interface - there were too many inconsistencies in the old ribbon which have now gone; and I don't find the CAPS titles to bother me at all.

      I've used Office Web Apps for quite some time and the new functionality they're bringing along will be most welcome.

  2. Danny 14
    Joke

    hmm. why are mens branded hats more expensive than womens?

    1. RICHTO
      Mushroom

      Because they need more material to allow for the men's bigger brains?

      1. Arctic fox
        Happy

        Cue massed howls of female laughter.

        See title.

        1. RICHTO
          Holmes

          Re: Cue massed howls of female laughter.

          Typically mens brains are 11%-12% bigger than womens brains. That's a well established scientific fact. Glad you find it funny....so do I!

          I guess the missing bit is partly to do with driving ability (women have more car accidents per mile driven than men).

          1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

            Re: "women have more car accidents per mile driven than men"

            They might, but they are largely scratches and fender-benders, whereas men have a tendency of plowing their cars into walls or around trees.

            As for the brain size thing, I was about to comment on how basic machismo was alive and well, but a gander on the Internet told me that this was actually true. Well, learn something every day.

            1. Arctic fox
              Happy

              "@Pascal Monett "..................this was actually true.""

              Indeed it is. However, when you relate brain mass to body weight you see that the percentage of body weight that brain-mass represents is identical in men and women. Furthermore, there are no reputable studies that have ever shown a difference in the intellectual capacities of men and women that can in any way be related to brain-mass at all. This appears to be something that the original poster was/is completely unaware of - perhaps his extra is not doing him as much good as he clearly thinks it is.

              1. RICHTO
                Mushroom

                Re: "@Pascal Monett "..................this was actually true.""

                "Recent research indicates that, in primates, whole brain size is a better measure of cognitive abilities than brain-to-body mass ratio. "

                Overall Brain Size, and Not Encephalization Quotient, Best Predicts Cognitive Ability across Non-Human Primates. Brain Behav Evol 2007;70:115-124

                http://dx.doi.org/10.1159%2F000102973

                1. Arctic fox
                  Thumb Down

                  Yes, in comparisons *between* primate species, not...........

                  ..............within the same species. I realise that there are some "scientists" who are trying to claim differently - they have yet to make a case that stands up to anything like genuine peer review. Give it a rest, the snide nature of the agenda in your original posting was tolerably obvious.

                  1. RICHTO
                    Mushroom

                    Re: Yes, in comparisons *between* primate species, not...........

                    It only states that because women were not tested. Even women might have objected to their brains being removed and measured!

                    But if it is true in Primates it is almost certainly true for humans....

                  2. RICHTO
                    Mushroom

                    Re: Yes, in comparisons *between* primate species, not...........

                    And just to refute the other comment: "Again, research on humans has yielded similar outcomes:

                    IQ is generally predicted equally well by whole brain vol-ume, subcortical volume, and neocortical volume [An-dreason et al., 1993; Egan et al., 1994; Reiss et al., 1996; Flashman et al., 1997; MacLullich et al., 2002]."

            2. RICHTO
              Mushroom

              Re: "women have more car accidents per mile driven than men"

              That's is true, but I bet a fair percentage of those male 'fault' accidents are swerving to avoid women: pulling out without regard to other drivers; reversing without looking or being in control; parking across two parking spaces; hesitating or jamming on the brakes unexpectedly.....

  3. Ken Hagan Gold badge

    Word count

    "The Word Web app also finally gains the ability to count the number of words in a document. ("We were surprised at how many customers gave us feedback wanting this feature," Morton writes.)"

    Really? I'd have thought the "no more than X-thousand words" formula was fairly widespread. Just about any document prepared for publication or submission has some constraints on content. This Morton person sounds a wee bit out of touch.

    1. jonathanb Silver badge

      Re: Word count

      Word-count is an essential feature for journalists and students. For most other people, it is completely unnecessary.

      1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

        Re: Word count

        And anyone in marketing (which is similar to journalism in the sense that your copy has to meet the requirements of your publisher) and academics (substitute "funding proposal" for "copy" and "grant provider" for "publisher"). I dare say there are others, since just about anyone who prepares a document for review by someone else will be working within some sort of constraints and "word count" is not an uncommon constraint.

        Other even more irritating constraints are "page count" (to discourage those who would otherwise include hundreds of diagrams and illustrations to reduce their word count). That's a particularly annoying constraint if you prepare the document and then discover that the page count changes when you convert to PDF for submission.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The changes look good

    My SkyDrive use went down thanks to yet another new workplace security policy but I really liked the old apps (useful before I shelled out for a copy of Office for my Mac at home - and in many ways better than Google Docs) and the improvements are good. The UI? Well I can live with that but I'm yet to try the full on Metro experience.

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