Microsoft doing its best to compete Google Docs

Microsoft will be testing an updated beta version of Office Live Workspace that will allow users to create and edit documents online. Such efforts have been brought into action with the aim to compete the substitute service – Google Docs.

Microsoft will start a public beta testing of the Office Web Application which is an online adjunct to Microsoft Office, later this year. With the release of this application, users will be able to edit and create new document online from within a Web browser.

Considering the new update by Microsoft, it is far better than current beta Live Workspace available, as it requires users to create documents using a copy of Office on their computer and then save them to the Web.

However, the new beta update (still being better than the current) has limited capabilities. For example, users must create new documents in the desktop versions of Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, and then save the to the Web, where they can then be stored on Microsoft servers.

The same document can be viewed online by other users. But if they wish to edit them, they must first download it to their PC and then open it. This is in contrast with the other online suites such as Google Docs and Zoho where users can perform the entire process of editing documents from inside a browser.

Therefore, Microsoft has been testing a ‘technical preview’ of the Office Web Application which will allow users to perform the same process without having Microsoft Office installed to their PC.