

That's not a huge problem, though, since most of us are online all day already. You can't install them on your PC or Mac like you can install normal Office apps, and they won't work when you're not connected to the internet. These free Office apps are web apps-that is, they run in your web browser, and yet they feel more like an "app" than a standard site. Now, before we get started, it's important to clear up a bit of confusion. Now that they've recently rebranded Skydrive as OneDrive, they've also set the Office Web Apps free to live on their own as Office Online, complete with a new Office 2013-style UI.

It worked nice, but was always hidden inside Skydrive. Back in 2010, Microsoft added "Office Web Apps" to their Skydrive online storage service, which let you edit your Office documents online with a basic copy of Office 2010-styled apps. The new Office Online is actually nothing terribly new.

Office Online: The Free Office You've Always Wanted It's really Office, just online-and free

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to make new documents, spreadsheets, and presentations using Office, for free, and also how to open and edit your existing documents online. They’re the same Microsoft Office apps you’re used to, only they run online and are 100% free. At the new, you can use basic versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for free in your browser. But what if you really would rather just use Microsoft Office apps, since they work great with the files you already have and you’re already used to them? You could use LibreOffice or Google Docs for free, or if you have a Mac you can use Apple’s iWork apps for far less than Office costs. That’s not so expensive, per se, if you need to use Office all day, but if all you need to do is type up a few letters and organize your personal finances, it’s definitely expensive. The new Office 365 will cost you around $9/month, and a stand-alone copy of Office 2013 costs over $100 even with a discount. Microsoft Office is one of the more expensive sets of productivity software most people will purchase.
