Office Web Apps is Microsoft's answer to Google Docs, which is used by many in the business world to collaborate online with colleagues on working documents and spreadsheets.

The company is currently providing limited-access technical previews of the Office Web suite and a number of major IT publications have posted reviews, which have been mixed. eWeek says the suite is "studded with its fair share of tech preview warts" but is still off to a solid start.

The suite includes web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, among other software. eWeek finds the rendering of documents through a browser comes close to desktop quality. Microsoft claims the documents will render equally well on Internet Explorer as it does on competing browsers, a claim supported by eWeek.

Since Microsoft is only allowing access to scaled down versions of Word, PowerPoint and Excel, the reviewer found it hard to come to any conclusions, but notes the suite should serve well as a tool for document sharing, viewing and "light" collaboration.

Meanwhile Cnet found the online version of Excel compared well with Google Docs in capabilities. It allows collaboration, with two or more people able to make changes to the spreadsheet at the same time.

"As in Google Docs' spreadsheet app, as soon as one person updates a part of the spreadsheet, everyone else viewing the sheet gets the change in real time, or close enough to it," the reviewer notes. "Users don't have to 'save' their file for the changes to get pushed out."

In fact, Excel on the web beats Google by having features approaching the desktop counterpart of the application. The similarity between the web and desktop versions should make it easier for people to switch between the versions, the Cnet reviewer says.

"However, setting up sharing is much more tedious in Office Web Apps than it is in Google Docs," he adds, pointing out that to share a file in Office Web, one must first save it in a particular folder, then share the folder with the relevant collaborators. By comparison Google lets users share files from within the files themselves.

"If you want to change the sharing specifics on one document in a folder but not others, you'll have to move the document to a different folder," says Cnet. "This is a catastrophic design flaw."

The online version of PowerPoint will be welcomed by many presenters, who will now have the ability to make last minute changes from any web-connected computer. Of note, Cnet found that Word online will not allow simultaneous editing. Opening a Word file online will lock it, preventing others from making changes until you close the file.

Cnet's concludes that Microsoft Office users have the most to gain by being able to extend their desktop experience directly to the Internet. Microsoft expects to release Office Web Apps in 2010. I have not had a chance to preview Office Web Apps yet, but those who do want to test out the limited trial to see whether it fits into their business can sign up to participate at http://www.microsoft.com/Office2010.

You must be signed up to Windows Live. The early Technical Preview programme is designed to collect additional customer feedback prior to the broad release of the service, says Microsoft. The company will add the OneNote Web App and additional Office Web App features, including further integration with Microsoft Office 2010, at a later date.

"The publish capability is another innovation, allowing Office documents to be embedded in blogs, social networking sites, and other websites," Microsoft claims.

The full feature set for Office Web Apps will be available in the first half of 2010, and will be offered in three ways. Windows Live customers will have access to Office Web Apps on Windows Live SkyDrive. Office Web Apps will also be available to Office 2010 volume licensing business customers, hosted with Microsoft SharePoint Server on-premises. Businesses will also have access to Office Web Apps through Microsoft Online Services.

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