Microsoft just today made the beta of its Office Web Apps online service available to select users and we got access to it and took a look around. It's by no means feature-complete and there are actually many bugs that prevent it from being used in a production fashion right now. However, the concept of being able to edit and create Office documents anywhere from the world from the Web app interface is an incredible powerful and flexible thing to have. The Web apps are limited in functionality, but they will be perfect for quick jobs while on the go.

Right now the Office Web Apps platform is tied to Windows Live SkyDrive (http://skydrive.live.com) and you interact with the Web Apps from within SkyDrive. For example, you can edit existing Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote files that are currently stored in your SkyDrive storage. Once you've been accepted into the beta for the Apps, a "new" drop-down menu appears on the menu bar in SkyDrive allowing you to click it to create a new document using the online Web Apps. All of the applications will work on Windows & Mac in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. We tested them using the latest version of Firefox, version 3.5.3.

Clicking on one of the various files types to create brings you to the next screen which allows you to name the file and from there you can click Create and it will take you to the main Web App interface.

For example, we created a new PowerPoint file and from there we can perform simple tasks to the blank slide show in a scaled-down, but very similar, interface to the traditional PowerPoint application that would be installed on the computer. As you can see in the screenshot below, there is the familiar ribbon interface in Office 2007 & 2010 and the functional available have been limited to basic functions only. For example, in the PowerPoint Web App, there is no ability to use themes, add transitions, or many other advanced features. Pretty much with all the Web App programs you only get basic editing features and no layout or "eye-candy" features to modify how a document or presentation looks.

It should be noted that one of the major bugs in the Web Apps is the inability to use some of the features that are included in the online apps. Currently in the PowerPoint app, we couldn't make use of the ability to insert pictures or clip art, which are two features under the Insert tab of the ribbon menu. Because it is only the first day these apps are available, we expect this issue will be resolved very soon.

Also apparent in all the online apps is the ability to then open the current file being edited in its corresponding Microsoft Office application installed on the computer for further editing. We tried clicking on the button in all of the online apps, but we were presented with an error that we didn't have a compatible version of Microsoft Office installed. However, we did have the Consumer Technical Preview of Microsoft Office 2010 installed, but it still didn't recognize it. Clicking on the requirements link in the screenshot below led us to a missing page 404 error as well.

The other Web app that we were able to use was Excel, which is shown below. We didn't see anyway to add any charts or tables into a spreadsheet using the Excel Web App, so either they haven't enabled it or it will not be offered.

In our experience, we were unable to create or edit any document in the online versions of both Word and OneNote. When we attempted to, a message was shown stating that that particular application was "coming soon".

Microsoft Word Web App was not available for use during our testing

Microsoft OneNote Web App was not available either

We are really excited to finally see the Office Web Apps have come to life, but we were rather taken back at how primitive and incomplete they are in their current state. They are in beta form, so that is to be expected to some extent. Currently, however, they do not seem anywhere near ready for regular use and should only be used for testing purposes. Microsoft's own press release states: "These Office Web Apps are part of the Office Technical Preview program, which means they aren’t feature-complete yet. The OneNote Web App and additional Office Web App features, including further integration with Microsoft Office 2010, will be available at a later date."

You can sign up for an invite for Office Web Apps at Microsoft's Web site.