Office 365 Web Apps Update

 
 

From October 22-26 Microsoft will roll out an exciting new upgrade to Office 365.

office-365-web-apps-update-oct-2012A major update for the Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote Web Apps is due this week with many new features including:

  • Improved interfaces, control of document layout and new functionality that brings the Web Apps closer to their desktop counterparts.
  • Co-authoring in all of the Office Web Apps. Users can now work simultaneously Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote documents in the browser. Adding comments is also possible in documents and presentations.
  • Touch support for tablets – Office Web App interfaces have been given a major overhaul to make them more finger-friendly and now support gestures such as pinching and swiping. According to reports, the experience on iPad is much better than before.
  • A redesigned smartphone interface with better legibility and increased functionality.
  • A boost in general application speed and editing thanks to newly enhanced code.
  • Many app-specific functions added or refined in Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote.

For further details and screenshots, please see the Microsoft blog post on the new Office Web Apps.

To our Office 365 clients

  • This is a seamless service upgrade from Microsoft, so no action is required on the part of the user. There is nothing you need to do administratively to prepare for this update.
  • There may be moments when administrative functions (such as granting permissions or creating new document libraries) will be temporarily disabled. These should be brief, but could last up to 30 minutes.
  • New documents that are added to SharePoint between 22 October 2012 and 26 October 2012 won’t be indexed for searching during the maintenance period. Indexing will resume on 26 October 2012, and documents that were added during the maintenance period will be indexed at that time.
  • SharePoint content will be read-only for up to 30 minutes. This will only happen once.
  • Internet Explorer 7 and Safari 4 are no longer supported by Office 365. The new Web Apps require a modern browser such as the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer.

What is Office 365?

Microsoft Office 365 offers cloud-based versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, Lync, Exchange and SharePoint, accessible from anywhere on any device with realtime collaboration. Sound like something your business could benefit from? We will take care of moving all your existing documents, email, settings and other data to the Microsoft cloud and provide tuition in the new system. Find out more about our Office 365 Setup & Migration solutions or send us your requirements for a quote.