The ribbon was introduced to Microsoft Word 2007 as a replacement for the file/menu system used by previous versions of Word. It’s still here in Microsoft Word 2010 and it’s even present in the Office Word App. OK, it’s a cut down version of the ribbon, owing to the limited functionaly that the Word Web App offers, but it still looks damn good. Here’s how the ribbon looks on entry to a new Word document:

There is now a web based version of Microsoft Word that you can access on the internet using your browser. The Word Web App provides the rich functionality that you expect from your desktop version of Microsoft Word – on the web. As it is a hosted solution, no software needs to be installed on your computer and you can use the Word Web App anywhere where there is access to an internet browser or mobile phone.

If you are using Microsoft Word 2010 to edit or view your document, you can save it to Windows SkyDrive so that other Office Web Apps users can access it. Doing so will also enable you to access your document when you are away from your computer and have access to only an internet browser or mobile phone.

Windows SkyDrive is the location where all the documents you create using Office Web Apps is stored. Microsoft provide 25GB of free storage space for consumer customers, but business customers have access to more. SkyDrive serves much more than the Office Web Apps community, though. You can store, organise, and download your files, photos, and favourites on Windows Live servers, and access them from any computer with an internet connection. You can also share photos and files that you create with your friends, collaborate on documents, or display photos and files that you create for anyone on the Windows Live network.

You have the ability in Office Web Apps to share particular documents by editing their permissions. Office Web Apps make use of the folder system that you usually see in Windows Explorer and you can give people access to a whole folder. If a file exists in a folder, the file’s permissions are inherited from that folder. In this case, you can’t grant access to just that individual file. Instead, you must grant access to the entire folder, and thus all the files within that folder.