Work is what you do, not where you go

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The announcement this week of the availability of Microsoft Office 2010 and Windows Live Hotmail reminds me of the notion that ‘work is what you do, not where you go’. This expression was originally used at the start of the mobility wave when 3G and wireless communications introduced the concept of the ‘road warrior’ with the ability to access information from anywhere. 

The problem with the experience of web-based applications turned out to be that the functionality was, in many cases, a pale imitation of the PC or server-based versions of the same applications. The new versions of Microsoft Office 2010 and Windows Live Hotmail now make the desktop and web-based experience virtually seamless.

Microsoft Office 2010 now includes Office Web Apps which are online companions to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, that let you review and make minor edits to documents from a browser. You can feel more confident with your data since document formatting and content is maintained when edits are done in the browser. You can also use Office Web Apps through the browser of a smartphone to make edits and view documents without losing any formatting or content and do much more than just read e-mail from your mobile device.

Windows Live Hotmail now includes the facility to open, view and edit the Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in your inbox. If you need to make edits to an attachment, Hotmail lets you do it from your Inbox using the free Office Web Apps without worrying about downloading files or installing software. You can even start a PowerPoint slide show and it will include all the animations and transitions.

You can discover much more about the compelling news features and functionality of Microsoft Office 2010 and Windows Live Hotmail using the links I have embedded in this blog posting so I shall not repeat them here.

Now it is over to you to figure out how to make the most of the all new Microsoft Office 2010 and Windows Live Hotmail to improve your productivity in your professional capacity and enrich your web-based personal communications.

Posted by Ian