Microsoft launches free Office Web Apps

Microsoft launched Web version of MS Office & its Free. Cant believe that..Microsoft and Free?? Thanks to Google Docs...Now MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint & One note can be accessed online free.....

Last night, Microsoft launched the free version of Office Web Apps after nine months of allowing select users to test the Technical Preview. The service is initially available via Windows Live SkyDrive (integration with Hotmail is not yet ready) at office.live.com to users in the US, Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland, with support for English, Spanish (USA), and French (Canada) languages. Users who don't live in those regions still have access, but they can't choose their language; Microsoft says 'more languages and locales will be added over the coming months.'

Office Web Apps let users view, edit, and share Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote documents directly in their browser. OWAs require Internet Explorer 7+, Chrome on Windows and Mac, Firefox 3.5+ on Windows, Mac, and Linux, or Safari 4+ on Mac. Microsoft has also finally revealed which mobile browsers are supported: 'You can view the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files that you save to SkyDrive via Office Web Apps on supported mobile browsers, including Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile 5 or later, Safari 4 on iPhone 3G or 3GS, BlackBerry 4.x and later, Nokia S60, NetFront 3.4, 3.5 and later, Opera Mobile 8.65 and later, and Openwave 6.2, 7.0 and later,' a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars.

The apps get better with Microsoft Office 2003 and later, and when Office 2010 is released to consumers next week (it hit RTM two months ago), Microsoft will further explain how the two will work together (for example, editing files offline, and co-authoring documents using revision marks, comments, and other rich features in Word and PowerPoint). Mark your calendars: June 15 is when a beta of Hotmail Wave 4 (with OWA integration) should start rolling out as well as when Office 2010 will hit retail and start getting preloaded on new PCs.