2. SkyDrive Word: No Edit

Choose the Microsoft Word document option from the New menu or the Edit option for a .docx file and all you get is this splash page telling you the Word Web app isn’t ready yet. Microsoft hasn’t put an exact date on when the rest of the Word apps will arrive, but the editing features in Word Web and the OneNote Web app are both promised before the beta release of the desktop Office 2010 apps (due before the end of the year). The versions of OneNote Web and Office Web that let you edit your notes and collaborate with other people follow on after that in what Office client product manager Chris Adams called a "staggered release." “Take the Word Web application," Adams said. "Now we only have the viewing capability in the technology preview but we expect by beta to add in editing, and then when we release the final version to the Web, add more advanced features like document co-authoring.”

That final version will come in the first half of 2010, Adams said. “We will release the Web apps around about the same time as the Office desktop apps and that will be what we think of as our version-one release,” Adams said.