The New Year of 2014 was kicked off with a great batch of improvements in Office Web Apps. The complete suite of Office Web Apps was enhanced and updated so that things could be done more easily from anywhere. Microsoft announced nice new additions to many of its Office Web Apps, which mainly includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote Web App. The company is giving all of these apps a user interface overhaul that brings an even flatter design, exciting new features and simple navigation. However, here’s a look at some of the major updates made in the Office Web Apps:

Improvements in Word Web App

Word Web App is picking up Tell Me orientation feature, which combines natural language questions and search to help you understand what you are trying to achieve and helps you do it faster. Also, with Word Web App enhancements, it is now possible for you to create and edit footnotes and endnotes directly in Word Web App. Not only this, even the ribbon has a new look now, thereby, making the job of sharing and renaming your documents easier.

Addition of ‘People View’ Feature in Outlook Web App

The new exciting feature- People View in Outlook Web App allows you to quickly view messages from people who are important to you. The feature enables you to see the mail from your most frequent contacts and automatically refreshes based on your most recent chats.

Changes in the Look and Usability of Each Web App

Microsoft has enhanced the look and usability of each Web App, using a new color-coded bar that allows access to the new navigation header and includes a Share button for the real-time collaboration. Also, changes have been made to the visual appeal of Web Apps by adding Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote Web App tiles to the navigational header that is provided by SkyDrive and Outlook.com.

Addition of Real-Time Co-Authoring to Office Web Apps

The addition of real-time co-authoring is one of the most interesting enhancements made to the Office Web Apps that even non-Office 365 users will get to enjoy. It was an effective collaboration tool that was missing until now and that would allow you to edit and manage Word, Excel and PowerPoint presentations in SkyDrive.

While all these updates have been rolled out to customers worldwide, it is worth the wait to see that how these changes actually look and work in the real world.