Microsoft Office is perhaps the best productivity tool out there. For over two decades, the software has been the centerpiece of Microsoft along with the Windows operating system. Having had a long history, the software family has evolved greatly over the years and is now a multi-platform system used world over. Microsoft is now taking the tools a step further and adding more features for its web-based versions of Word and PowerPoint for increased collaborative efficiency.
The tech giant is introducing chat feature in the Office Online versions of Word and PowerPoint. The service will be powered by Skype; that was acquired by Microsoft in May 2011 for $8.5 billion. It is not yet available on Excel and others from the MS Office portfolio.
This feature will come handy for folks working on group projects. Microsoft had already brought features like real-time editing on the web apps, and now the users can converse about the changes in the app itself, wouldn’t the need of a secondary tool for chat purpose. It will also be easy to point out the slacker of the group as the records of the conversations are saved and hence, it can be reviewed later.
With these updated features, Microsoft wants to challenge the dominance of Google, whose Drive apps are really popular. Using the goodwill of its Office apps, the company intends to stay valid in the collaborative cloud age.
