Microsoft soon to re-brand Office Web Apps as Office Online

A Microsoft Web page currently lists “Office Online” as one of three Office 365 options, a name that will apparently replace Microsoft’s current Office Web Apps. ZDNet and Livesino.net noted the Microsoft page, which lists the three personal options available to Office 365 subscribers: Office 365 Home Premium, Office 365 University, and the third, Office Online. Previously, that space had been filled by Office Web Apps. 

Check out the screen shot of Microsoft’s “compare” page for its consumer Office offerings. (Thanks to Livesino.net‘s founder Yan Zhu for sharing the URL.) Office Online is listed prominently as the free option, alongside Office 365 Home Premium (for $9.99 per month) and Office 365 University (for $79.99 for four years). Clicking on the “Learn More” button under Office Online currently takes the user to the Office Web Apps page. Microsoft has offered Office Web Apps — the Webified versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote that work in a variety of browsers — since 2010. Company officials have had problems explaining to normal users how to find and use these apps. Up until now, Microsoft has touted Office Web Apps more as a feature of SkyDrive, its cloud-storage offering soon to be rebranded OneDrive, and/or as an Office 365 feature.