Microsoft Expands, Updates Office Web Apps

Just three months after its release, Microsoft Office Web Apps is getting a facelift and expanding into seven more countries.

In its 100-day lifetime, 20 million users from the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Ireland have logged in to use Microsoft's cloud-based version of its Office suite. Web Apps will now expand into Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, and Switzerland, Microsoft said in a blog post.

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Among the changes is the ability to open a Web Apps document in Microsoft Office, jumping directly from the Internet to the desktop. The feature is accessible via the "Open in [Office app]" option when you're browsing your files.

Microsoft also added the option to embed PowerPoint and Excel documents on blogs and Web sites. Viewers can look at them in full screen mode and will see all animations and transitions. When Excel spreadsheets are updated on the desktop, they will automatically be updated on the Web.

Another new Web Apps feature is the ability to view Excel workbooks on a mobile device, in addition to the existing option for Word and PowerPoint documents. However, users are not able to edit these documents via phone.

All of these updates are available immediately.

"We've fixed bugs you've told us about, made improvements across the board, and generally improved the reliability of your experience," Jason Moore, Windows Live SkyDrive principal lead program manager wrote in the blog post.

Moore said Microsoft will also be rolling out Hotmail updates in the new regions in the coming weeks.