Many parents feel compelled and sometimes pressured into buying expensive office suites for children to use at home. They are told that children will need to use Microsoft software for school work. Student and parent versions are available, but the software can still be costly and is all that power truly required? When schools suggest Microsoft packages, what they often meaning is a program with the ability to write .doc or .docx, .xls or .xlsx, .ppt or .pptx. These extensions are created by many alternative suites at a fraction of, or no, cost.
Office Live creates Word Documents Online
With Office Live from Microsoft, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote documents are created on the Internet and stored in SkyDrive. With a good Internet connection, most home users will find Office Live sufficient for their needs without any additional expense. A Windows Live login is required, but users with a Hotmail or Xbox account should already have one. Sky Drive offers a massive 25GB storage, more than ample for most people.
Word in Office Live has a familiar look, and users of Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010 will be familiar with the ribbon interface. Clicking "file" allows for printing, saving and sharing. Learners can share a document with teachers or peers without needing to print.
Office Live’s version of Excel has a similar view to Office Live Word, but to print the files, a separate download of Office Excel Viewer is needed. This is a program for those without Microsoft Office, enabling them to view, save and print files. A similar program is available for PowerPoint.
PowerPoint Templates are Included with Office Live
PowerPoint is more limited in use than Word or Excel, but does include several templates ready to create a reasonable presentation. The print facility creates a .pdf file ready for printing. Most computers are supplied with a Adobe Reader installed, but there are many freeware alternatives if needed.
The big downside of Office Live is the OneNote module. Notebooks can be created, edited and shared but they can only be opened in a copy of OneNote. There is no export facility and print to .pdf as there is for PowerPoint. Of course students could open the file on a school or university computer. An alternative program is the popular Evernote, which imports OneNote files.
Overall, Microsoft Office Live is a useful addition to Microsoft Office, and would make an adequate office suite for users who do not the scope or power of the full priced package.
Denise Oyston - I am a Further Education Lecturer, specialising in IT. I am interested in basic skills teaching, especially literacy and numeracy as well ...
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