If you have been working on a Word 2010 document that you have shared with someone and they have made changes to it in the Word Web App, beware! In your Recent Documents list you will see a version of the document that is stored on your hard drive or network, and in addition you will also see a version of the Word Web App document. These documents may be different!

Office Web Apps are web based versions of Microsoft Office 2010. As they are hosted in the “cloud”, i.e. the programs haven’t been installed on your computer, the functionality that Office Web Apps provide is limited. However, they do offer a look and feel that is consistent with their desktop counterparts.

If you have an Office Live Workspace account, you will be prompted to move all your files to Windows Live SkyDrive next time you log in. Windows Live SkyDrive is Microsoft’s new online storage system and integrates with the Office Web Apps to provide a place to save and edit your Office documents online.

The Word Web App is the free web equivalent of Microsoft Word 2010. Being hosted in “the cloud”, the Word Web App enables you to view and work on your Word documents anywhere that you have access to an internet connection and a browser. However, because the Office Web Apps are a hosted solution, there is a limited feature set available to users.

On mobile devices, the Office Web Apps are supposed to be view only. You are not supposed to be able to create new or edit existing documents. Of course that declaration must have sounded like a challenge to those little tinkers at CNET. In this article, they were almost able to fully run the Office Web Apps on their iPad.