Cash remains tight for most UK businesses, so this might not be the easiest time for Microsoft to be launching the latest version of its Office suite of software.

Perhaps this is why so much of the talk surrounding Office 2010 has been about the new suite of Web-based applications, which are free online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, designed to compete with Google’s Docs, Zoho Office and various other open source Web-based productivity tools.

But just how much do you get for nothing? After all, Microsoft has stated that it created Office Web Apps as companions to, rather than replacements for, their desktop equivalents. Our review describes some of the newest features of Office 2010 and highlights some of the limitations of the free online versions.
 

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New online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote let users create, edit, and share documents online, for free using the company’s SkyDrive website.

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Improved customisation features, such as being able to easily assemble the commands you frequently use in user-created Ribbon tabs and groups of your own creation.

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The big Office button has gone from the top left corner. Instead the File tab now brings up a new window called 'Backstage View' where you can create, share, save, print and access recent documents.

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New Live Preview function for a paste that allows you to see what it will look like before you commit, saving on clicks.

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Sophisticated image and video editing tools that could mean that many users no longer have to use third party applications to process media for use in Office documents.

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Office documents downloaded from web programmes now open in a ‘protected view’ by default in a bid to tackle increasing Malware problems. This means that editing is disabled until you explicitly authorise it.

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Better design tools with new artistic effects easily accessible from Fonts pop-up window.

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New navigation pane which makes skipping between sections simpler in long documents

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new 'Insert Screenshot' feature which permits you to add and edit a screen grab from any non-minimised window on your desktop instantly without exiting the document.

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Word has now become such a powerful editing tool that its online version seems all the more disappointing. In particular, there is no support for Word's 'Revision & Review' toolset which seems illogical given that one of the primary uses of the online version must surely be to enable simpler collaboration between users. Please note that  simultaneous editing in both Word and PowerPoint require the full desktop versions.

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Addition of Sparklines, a feature that can create tiny charts in a single cell to illustrate trends in a row of figures.

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As with Word, functionality in the web version of Excel is very restricted with no charting tools whatsoever. Functions may be used and tables can be refreshed from outside data sources however some tests have reported slow performance.

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PowerPoint’s 'Broadcast Slide Show' feature is one of the smartest innovations in Office 2010, making it simple to show presentations remotely to anyone with a Web browser. The presentation just needs to be uploaded to a secure website which gives you a unique URL to pass to your friends or colleagues to create an impromptu presentation from wherever they may be. It's a very convenient way to collaborate, although to start this type of presentation, you'll need to buy Microsoft Office 2010.

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Other improvements include advanced video-editing features where you can trim embedded videos and bundle them up so they travel with your presentation. You can now easily import video from the web too.

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A new animation painter allows the application of an animation created for objects in one slide to objects in another.

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As with other Office 2010 applications, the online version of PowerPoint is a shadow of its desktop self. You may only create slides using text, still images and smart art with no animations or transitions.

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New layout features and options: i.e. default mail view adds a people pane that shows recent interactions with the sender of whichever message appears in the pane. This People Pane also has an Outlook Social Connector feature, which brings the e-mail and calendaring program into the world of social networking. Allows contact data to be synced with popular social networks, sharing status, pictures, shared documents and more.

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The new Quick steps feature provides an easy way of creating rules and applying them to specific messages (as opposed to filters)

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Microsoft is trying hard to promote the use of this application by including it in all Office editions. OneNote is billed as the ultimate place to store and share information in a single location as the application allows you to capture text, images, video and audio.

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OneNote 2010 is perfectly mobile. You can post notes online and access them from virtually anywhere using the Web or a smartphone.

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The latest version includes some smart new features such as the ability to record audio while you’re taking notes and then let you use the notes to play back the audio it captured as you were writing them. It can also turn handwritten maths equations into text.

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These web-based Office Applications are skeletal shadows of the desktop applications.

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Whether you purchase one of the desktop Office 2010 editions or not, you’ll be able to use Office Web apps, free of charge, although you will need a Windows Live account either way.

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Web Apps allow you to create new Word, Excel PowerPoint and OneNote documents online, via the Office menu item which appears on your Windows live page. You can visit the file from any browser, in any location, and click the edit button to bring up editing options. The free versions do not include all of the functionality of the desktop versions of Office 2010, but some home users may find them sufficient.