Microsoft ditches Office Web Apps name for ‘Office Online’ and adds a few UI changes

Office Online rebrand and Office.com

Microsoft rebrands Office Web Apps to “Office Online”, because according to the company the word “Apps” was confusing users and the new change should help users understand the product better.

The new name also comes with a redesigned Office.com, which now became the main hub to access the web browser version of the Office suite apps, which also has been renamed to: “Word Online”, “Excel Online”, “PowerPoint Online”, and “OneNote Online” naming, instead of “Word Web App”, “OneNote Web App”, and so on.

There are not new features in this update, just a few changes to simply improve the user experience and to get more customers to use the these apps online.

Another major change you’ll notice creating a new document is the new drop-down menu (app switcher) next to the name of the app on the top-left corner of the screen to access all the apps including OneDrive, Outlook, and Calendar from on centralize place. Though Microsoft has yet make the menu available on other cloud-powered product.

app-switcher-office-online_medium word-online_medium

The new changes follows the recent re-introduction of SkyDrive as OneDrive, which is also part of Office Online.

Source Microsoft

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Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].