Microsoft's Office Web Apps finally get real-time collaboration -- 3 years after Google Docs

Microsoft's online Office suite is finally shaping up to be a strong competitor to Google Docs.

Today, Microsoft announced the addition of real-time collaborative editing for its Office Web Apps, a feature that Google brought to Google Docs back in 2010. The addition makes Office Web Apps a far better solution for working together with colleagues, and it's a big step towards bringing the best of Microsoft Office entirely online.

The new real-time features are available today in Microsoft's Word, Excel, and PowerPoint web apps. Those apps also received several other upgrades, including new formatting capabilities (like table styles) previously reserved for the Office desktop apps.

"When we first launched [Office] Web Apps, it was about getting access to content for light-weight edits," said Amanda Lefebvre, the technical product marketing manager for Office Web Apps, in an interview with VentureBeat. "Earlier this year, [we] started to think about them less as a companion, and more of a true Office experience on the web."

Microsoft's online Office suite always appealed to companies and people who relied on the Office desktop apps, and now with real-time editing, there's even less of a reason for those users to consider Google Docs. Lefebvre says Microsoft is working on bringing online editing capabilities in its web apps to Android tablets next.

For offline editing, Microsoft still has its full-blown Office 2013 desktop suite. It seems strange, though, that we've reached a point where the Office online apps may be more appealing for group work.

Office Web Apps is available to Microsoft Office customers and subscribers of Office 365, which starts at $5 a user for small business, and goes up to $15 a month for mid-size businesses. Google Apps for businesses also starts at $5 a user. Microsoft hasn't revealed how many users are taking advantage of Office Web Apps yet, while Google said last year that 5 million businesses are using Google Apps.

When I asked how long will it be until the Office desktop apps can edit in real-time with the Office web apps, Lefebvre couldn't say much, but she noted that some people appreciate the desktop experience (which can still edit shared files, just not in real-time).

"A lot of people have asked, what happens if I don't want people to see my changes," she said. "I think it's nice to have the desktop apps, you have a little more control in your collaboration."