【英语科技】微软网络版Office软件测评

I am writing this in Microsoft Word, hardly an unusual way to author a document. But I'm not using Word as you know it -- part of the large, complex Microsoft Office suite installed on your computer's hard drive. Instead, I am using a new, streamlined version of Word that resides on remote servers you reach through the Internet.

This new version of Word is used inside a Web browser. It works on both Windows PCs and Macs, and via the newer versions of the major browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome. It's free and it doesn't require you to have regular Office on your computer.

Word isn't the only Office component that's now available in a free online version. Microsoft has created similar simplified versions of Excel, PowerPoint and its OneNote note-taking program as part of the free online suite called Office Web Apps, which is available at office.live.com. To use the new online Office, you'll need a free account for the company's broader Windows Live online service.

Microsoft is also releasing a new version of its traditional desktop Office for Windows next week, called Office 2010. But in my view, the online edition is the most interesting new development for consumers in this round of updates. It's part of the broader trend toward cloud computing -- doing tasks online rather than with desktop programs. And it's meant to help the software giant compete with rival online office suites from competitors like Google and Zoho.

I've been testing Office Web Apps on both Windows and Mac computers, and in all four major browsers, and I like it. It has some downsides and is still a work in progress. It lacks many of the more sophisticated features of the desktop version of Office. In fact, Microsoft -- apparently trying to protect its profitable desktop suite -- refers to Office Web Apps as a 'companion' to desktop Office, for 'light' work.

But these are capable, if simpler, programs that look and feel like their desktop counterparts and they will likely meet the needs of many consumers who produce basic documents, even if they don't own desktop Office. Also, the new Web Apps are connected to a generous 25 gigabytes of free online storage for your documents, via a companion Microsoft online storage system called SkyDrive.

Another big benefit: Microsoft boasts its Office Web Apps produce documents that use the same file formats as the desktop programs and thus, look fully accurate when opened in desktop Office. The company calls this 'fidelity.' In my tests, this claim held true, at least on my Windows PC. (A revised version of Microsoft Office for the Mac, tuned to work with Web Apps, is in the works.)

The new version of the desktop Office suite also has many new features, but a lot of these are for power users or corporate users, and, overall, it isn't nearly as big a change as its predecessor, Office 2007. Among the new desktop features consumers will notice and use are the extension of the consolidated top tool bar called the 'Ribbon,' introduced in the 2007 version in most Office programs, to Outlook; a new unified view for printing, sharing and previewing documents, called 'Backstage'; and richer graphics. You can also now customize the Ribbon.

In my tests of the streamlined Office Web Apps, I was able to use a variety of fonts and styles, insert and resize photos, and create tables. And I was able to view my documents, though not edit them, on an iPhone and iPad. This also works with other mobile devices.

One glitch I ran into in the Word Web App was that, if you use a tab to start a paragraph, it changes the left margin of each subsequent line. Microsoft says this is a bug and it is working to fix it.

Another downside for some users may be that the Web Apps only directly open documents from, and save them to, your online SkyDrive storage, not your hard disk. So you have to upload files from your hard disk to SkyDrive to edit them in the Web Apps. And, like most cloud-based programs, they can only be used when you're online.

There are numerous things you may be used to doing in desktop Office that can't be done in the online version. For instance, you can't drag photos by the corners to resize them, embed videos, create slide transitions or add new spreadsheet charts.

You can, with one click, open a Web version of your document in the full desktop program, to take advantage of richer editing. However, this only works with certain combinations of browsers and desktop Office versions.

Two of the Web apps, Excel and OneNote, allow multiple users to log on and work on the same document together. The others don't yet. In fact, in my tests, I couldn't open a Word document locally until I had closed it online, and vice versa. Microsoft says it is working on expanding simultaneous use to all the apps.

Office Web Apps are a good start for Microsoft at bringing its productivity expertise to the Web, and may be all many consumers need for creating simple documents.

我是在Microsoft Word软件上写这篇文章的，这是我们撰写文档最常用的一种方式。不过我用的可不是你们平时所知道的那个Word软件──安装在电脑硬驱中那个庞大复杂的Microsoft Office中的一个软件。我用的是安装在远程服务器上的精简型新版本Word，用户可以在网络上应用这个软件。

Microsoft网络版Office的界面这个新版本Word在网络浏览器中使用，Windows和Mac电脑都可以，同IE、火狐、苹果Safari、谷歌Chrome等主要浏览器的新版本均可兼容。它是一款免费软件，你的电脑中不需要安装Office软件。

拥有免费网络版本的Office软件不仅仅是Word，微软发布了一个免费的Office Web Apps套装，其中包含了Excel、PowerPoint、OneNote等软件的简化版本，登录office.live.com就可以使用。要使用这种新型的网络版Office，你需要有一个Windows Live在线服务的免费账号。

下周微软将发布传统的桌面Office软件的最新版本Office 2010。不过在我看来，网络版对于用户来说是更为有趣的体验，它顺应了云计算的潮流──在线处理任务而不是应用电脑中内置的程序。软件巨头微软打算通过这款软件来应对谷歌、Zoho等竞争对手推出的网络版办公软件。

我分别在Windows 电脑和Mac 电脑上、在四款主要浏览器中试用了Office Web Apps软件，结果很满意。它的确有缺陷，尚需完善，桌面版本Office软件一些相对复杂的功能它都没有。事实上，微软公司──他们当然是要维护有钱可赚的桌面版本Office软件的──称Office Web Apps是桌面版本Office软件的“伴侣”，适合处理一些“轻省”的任务。

《个人数字生活》专栏的作者莫博士试用了微软即将发布的Office免费在线版本。这个版本的Office在PC机上和苹果机上都能使用。不过Office Web Apps虽然相对简单，也已足够强大，外观和用起来的感觉同桌面版软件很像，用户即便没有桌面版的Office，用Office Web Apps中的软件处理基本的文档也已经绰绰有余。而且，Web Apps有一个附属的微软网上存储系统SkyDrive，为你的文档提供了高达25G的存储空间。

它还有一大优点：微软表示，Office Web Apps创建的文档格式同桌面版软件的格式是一致的，因此在桌面版Office中打开该文档时不会出现任何的偏差，微软称之为“保真”。我的试用体验证实此言非虚，至少在我的Windows电脑上是如此。（在Mac电脑上可兼容Web Apps的修正版Office软件正在开发之中。）

新版本的桌面版Office软件也有很多新功能，不过很多功能仅针对高级用户和企业用户，总的说来，不及其前身Office 2007那么有突破。新版桌面版软件比较引人注意、实用性强的特色有：多数Office 程序在2007版本中新增的桌面顶部的“Ribbon”工具栏如今在Outlook中也采用了；打印、共享及预览文档时保持一致的“Backstage”视图；图像也更为丰富多样。你还可以根据自己的需要对Ribbon工具栏进行自定义设置。

在试用精简型的Office Web Apps软件时，我可以应用不同的字体和样式、导入照片并调节其大小、创建表格。我还可以在iPhone和iPad上浏览文档，不过不可以编辑。其他移动设备也可以做到这一点。

有一个不便之处是，当你敲击tab键来起始一个段落的话，之后每一行的左边距都会被改变。微软方面称这是一个缺陷，他们正在进行修复。

对于有些用户来说，还有一个缺点就是，Web Apps只能直接打开SkyDrive存储器中的文档，保存时也是一样，对硬盘中的文档无法直接操作。所以你必须从硬盘中将文档上传至SkyDrive，方可进行编辑。跟多数的云计算软件一样，你只能在网上应用这些程序。

桌面版Office的大量功能在网络版中无法实现，比如，你不能拖动照片的某个角来改变其尺寸、嵌入视频、实现幻灯式切换、创建新的电子表格。

你可以点击鼠标，在桌面版软件中打开网络版文档，进行更为丰富多样的编辑工作。不过，只有特定的某些浏览器和桌面Office软件可以实现这一点。

Excel和OneNote网络软件允许多用户同时登录、同时处理同一个文档。其他软件暂时还无法实现这一点。在我的试用过程中，当我在网络版软件中打开了一个Word文档时，我就没法在本地打开它，只有关掉网络版本才可以在本地打开，反之亦然。微软方面表示，他们正在努力使所有软件都实现可同步使用。

Office Web Apps是微软专业产品网络化的一个良好开端，也许它正是很多用户所需要的创建简单文档的解决方案。