In Jack's Wildcat Drafting Blog he mentioned that he saw that Microsoft had just released a product called Office Live Workspace. Office Live is a free application that is currently Beta. The website states that eventually there may be advertisements as well as some additional features that you will have to pay for. Currently to use Office Live you must register for an account a pretty standard registration form. Your user name is your e-mail address. The user is able to choose a password.
Office Live is marketed as a place to access Microsoft Office files from anywhere without the need to carry around a flash drive. Office Live Workspace does exactly that. It is simply a place to store files. You may view a read only version of the file from Office Live Workspace or you may save a copy to your computer. Office Live also allows you to share your document with up to 100 people. In addition to sharing the document the collaborators are able to post comments to the document.
I was really excited when I first read about Office Live Workspace. However, when I compare Office Live Workspace to Google Docs there really is no comparison. I have been spoiled by the editing feature of Google Docs. I like the fact that I can edit right on the site not just make comments. If I am sharing a document with multiple people most of the time I do not want them to just view or download their own copy. If I want them to do this I will send the document as an attachment. No additional sign in required.
To Microsoft Office Live Workspace credit the application is in Beta. I will keep my eyes open as the application continues to improve. Who knows I may change my mind and prefer to use Office Live Workspace over Google Docs.
4 comments:
I knew you'd check into this. Thanks for doing so.
I solved my problem from last week about not being able to convert the Google notebook to a web page.
I just put the information into my website as a FAQ. Since my website is a content management program rather than HTML, it's pretty easy. I'll snag the info I want, place in Google or OneNote until I have the time to transfer it.
FAQ Notes
Nobody else has chimed in on this one yet, so I'll say a little more.
I think there is great potential with both Google and MS Live. Collaboration, losing or forgetting the flash drive, problems with syncing multiple computers are just a few of the benefits.
Too bad my employer is still using MS Office 2003 and probably will be for another 5 years or more.
JR
I haven't heard of MS Live but I have used Google Docs and I love it. I like being able to edit the document right on the website rather than have to download it and make changes.
Jennifer,
I found a webcast you might be interested in. http://www.educationwebcasts.com/Webcast.aspx?i=3525
It's from MS dealing with Office Live Workspaces. I haven't watched it yet, but will get to it later this week.
JR
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