Updated: November 8, 2011
By comparing the capabilities of Office Web Apps in three different environments, you can help determine the best approach for your organization.
Microsoft Office Web Apps are online companions to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. They enable people to view, share, and work on documents with other people online across personal computers, mobile phones, and the web. Business customers who are licensed for Microsoft Office 2010 through a Volume Licensing program can run Office Web Apps on-premises on a server that runs Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 or Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. For more information, see Microsoft Volume Licensing (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=191842). Microsoft also offers a hosted SharePoint Online service that can run Office Web Apps. Office Web Apps are also available to consumers through Windows Live SkyDrive.
The following table provides a summary of the capabilities of Office Web Apps on Windows Live SkyDrive, on Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products if they are installed on-premises, and Office Web Apps on SharePoint Online.
|
Capability
|
Windows Live SkyDrive
|
SharePoint 2010 installed on-premises
|
SharePoint Online
|
|
Audience
|
For personal use
|
For business use
|
For business use
|
|
Storage space
|
25 GB
|
Configurable by IT
|
Configurable by IT
|
|
File size limits
|
50 MB per file for Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote: 2 MB for Excel
|
Configurable by IT
|
Configurable by IT
|
|
Pricing
|
Free
|
Office 2010 volume license
|
Office 2010 volume license
|
|
Ad Supported
|
✓
|
|
|
|
Backup and restore
|
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
Document life cycle management
|
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
IT admin control
|
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
Ability to create new documents*
|
✓
|
Configurable by IT if Office desktop applications are not installed on the active computer.
|
Configurable by IT if Office desktop applications are not installed on the active computer.
|
|
Browsers supported
|
Windows: Internet Explorer 7 or later versions, Firefox 3.5 or later versions, and Chrome
Mac: Safari 4 or later versions, Firefox 3.5 or later versions
Linux: Firefox 3.5 or later versions, Chrome
|
Windows: Internet Explorer 7 or later versions, Firefox 3.5 or later versions, Chrome
Mac: Safari 4 or later versions, Firefox 3.5 or later versions
Linux: Firefox 3.5 or later versions, Chrome
Office 2010, Service Pack 1 (SP1) supports Chrome on Windows and Linux.
|
Windows: Internet Explorer 7 or later versions, Firefox 3.5 or later versions
Mac: Safari 4 or later versions, Firefox 3.5 or later versions
Linux: Firefox 3.5 or later versions, Chrome
|
|
Mobile support
|
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Web Apps
|
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Web Apps
|
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Web Apps
|
|
Mobile browsers supported
|
Internet Explorer: Windows Phone (viewing and editing)
Safari 4 & 5: iPhone 3G and 3GS, iPhone 4 (viewing), and Android 2.2 (viewing)
|
Internet Explorer: Windows Mobile 6 through Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Phone
Safari 4 & 5: iPhone 3G or 3GS, iPhone 4
Other browsers: BlackBerry 5.x and later versions, Nokia S60 3.x and 5.0, and Andriod 1.6, 2.1, and 2.2
|
Internet Explorer: Windows Mobile 6 through Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Phone
Safari 4 & 5: iPhone 3G or 3GS, iPhone 4 (viewing)
Other browsers: BlackBerry 5.x and later versions, Nokia S60 3.x and Nokia S60 5.0, and Android 1.6, 2.1 and 2.2 (viewing)
|
Other Resources
Office Web Apps overview (Installed on SharePoint 2010 Products)
Office 2010 Product Guides: Microsoft Office Web Apps
Deploy Office Web Apps in your SharePoint environment
Microsoft SharePoint Online
Change History
|
Date
|
Description
|
|
November 8, 2011
|
Updated information about Chrome, Safari, and mobile browsers.
|
|
November 1, 2011
|
Added information about support for mobile browsers.
|
|
June 28, 2011
|
Updated Chrome information for Office 2010 SP1.
|
|
August 12, 2010
|
Initial publication
|