It was just 24 hours ago that Microsoft formally launched their renamed OneDrive cloud storage service and now they have pushed out the expected re-branding of their Office Online apps.
According to Microsoft’s Amanda Lefebvre, writing on the official Office Blog, these changes are a direct result of customer feedback.
Today we are making two changes. First, we’re renaming Office Web Apps to Office Online so you know where to find our free online experience. We heard from customers that the inclusion of Apps in our name was confusing. Are they something I install? Do I go to an app store to get them? No, to use them all you need is a web browser. Ah! You say. So it’s like Office, online. Yes, exactly. Office Online.
Along with the name change an entire collection of templates have been added to the service for the online versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. When you first start up one of the Office Online programs you will see the new start up experience which includes the template option:
The quickest ways to reach the Office Online version of these programs is to go to Office.com or click on a document directly on your OneDrive storage.
Whenever you are in one of the Office Online products you will also discover the same style App Bar that we have had on Outlook.com for some time.
This allows you to easily switch between the other Office Online programs and other Microsoft cloud services such as Outlook.com and OneDrive.
Check out this support article, Get Started at Office.com, for an introductory video and instructions on accessing the various Office Online programs.
