The first thing I did when faced with a new computer, or formatted an old one, was to focus on two things: driver installation and get hold of the Microsoft Office package. I knew that there were several free alternatives to Office and that it was not mandatory to have it, but I took it something like a tradition.
However, with the passage of time I have realized that in my day to day, and I must emphasize that I speak of my own circumstances, in case you were not clear yet, I only use Word and Excel of all the options offered by the Office package. Today they are such basic tools that luckily there are multiple alternatives that meet my needs. That is why I decided to use the free web version of Office for a while.
Requirements to bear in mind
To access this version, you only need one requirement: have a Microsoft account. Well, an internet connection is also required in case anyone doubted. Having this, we are ready to enter the Office website and get to work.
If you look at the interface, it may be familiar to you, because if you work assiduously with the Office package, it is quite intuitive and easy to navigate through the menus it offers. In the upper left we have all the applications that we can access for free, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OutLook, etc.
Taking a walk through the options we have, I think I don’t need to stop at OutLook or OneDrive, since they are tools that have remained on the web since its inception. But if I would like to talk about Teams.
Microsoft Teams
Perhaps of the entire suite of web applications Microsoft offers, it is likely that Teams is the one that most needs to download its desktop version. And it is that although the basic functions can go well for us, those such as background blur, personalized backgrounds, call recording, or sharing our screen will not be available in their web version.
Also, in case we want to go ahead with the web version of Microsoft Teams, it is worth mentioning that it is in the Microsoft Edge browser where we will obtain a higher performance, due to shorter loading times and higher functionalities.
Microsoft Word
It is probably the most widely used of the entire Office suite. And it is that this word processor has a long journey in the history of Windows. Today we mention it to talk about its functionalities in its web version and some actions that we will not be able to perform if we do not have your desktop version.
For those who are going to use only the basic functions of Microsoft Word, including myself, we are not going to miss anything. With an interface practically identical to its desktop version, we can load any type of document and work on it as we have always done so far in Word.
Thus, we can upload any document that we have installed locally, upload it, and even save it in OneDrive if we wish. What’s more, we are also allowed to save our document in PDF format. The truth is that for the use that I have been giving all these years, it could survive perfectly without any other tool.
Nevertheless, Microsoft wouldn’t give us access to Word for free if it weren’t limited in multiple ways. To begin with, on the web we will not be able to reference, which prevents us from adding citations or bibliography in a comfortable way. Nor would there be advanced collaboration to track changes, merge documents, etc.
We would not have the advanced page design tools available in the web version of Word either, as well as the printing ones. Also, we couldn’t add watermarks either.
If you can survive without these features, the web version of Word is probably sufficient for you.
Microsoft Excel
Three-quarters of the same thing happens in Excel. Those basic functions for which this tool is characterized will continue to work the same in its web version. Nevertheless, This has a series of limitations that come in handy to know in case at any time we need to access that version.
To begin with, and most importantly, we do not have an advanced formula tool. We will have the possibility to choose many of them, although their use is more complete in Excel for desktop. In addition, we will not be able to create dynamic graphics, although we can see them on the web.
In Excel web we do not have the possibility to create external data connections or references, in addition to the fact that we could not use Power View, Power Pivot or slicers or advanced filters.
Modifying data books is convenient on the web, since we can access quickly and from any device without having anything installed. Although some may miss the functionalities that we have mentioned above.
Microsoft PowerPoint
This is another of those tools that we do recommend to use on the desktop, mainly because here you work with animations and multimedia content, the performance being better in the mentioned version. In addition, we also have a series of limitations that can put some users back.
Animations and transitions are limited. We can only access a total of 37 animations and 8 transitions. Nor can we add our own animations. Also, we will not be able to play embedded videos.
In terms of style and design, it is also limited. The web version lacks various formats and effects. We also don’t have Excel integration for charts and headers and footers are non-existent in this version.
Comfortable if we do without advanced functions
As you have seen, there are quite a few limitations, especially in the advanced field of each of the applications described. However, if our usual use is focused solely on exploiting the basic and typical functions that Microsoft has always offered us, you should not have any problem using only the web version.
It goes without saying that we can also turn to other various free alternatives, such as the always reliable OpenOffice or LibreOffice.