Last month at the Professional Developers Conference 2008, Microsoft announced to bring their Office suite online with a version called Office Web. However, an active internet connection is a necessity.

On the occasion, Chris Capossela, senior vice president of Microsoft Business Division, discussed how forthcoming Office Web applications would help in creating and editing word documents, spreadsheets and presentations through a web browser.

In an interview, Capossela said that browser-based Word, Excel and PowerPoint won't have offline mode, at least initially. "In the first generation we are certainly looking at having them be connected. For offline usage, of course, the Office suite is incredibly powerful."

To be noted that Zoho has already added offline functionality while Google Docs has been working to add offline functionality. Microsoft's plan looks fair. Launching fully functional Office Web when Windows 7 will have certain Windows Live Essentials - Mail, Messenger, Writer, Microsoft Office Outlook Connector, etc.

Together with Windows Live Essentials suite and Office Web, Microsoft might be working to bring both online and offline experience for users. At least, that's what can be inferred at this stage.




Source: Beyond B1nary