Google Docs had a pretty big lead on the Microsoft Office Web Apps, when they finally unveiled in 2010. Docs have been around since 2007, with the basics of Google acquisitions such as Writely and Technologies 2Web code that has been developed built in Google Spreadsheets.
Since then, Doc has matured into a full-featured productivity suite, complete with a web-based document preview, media player components and rich content sharing options. Another feature of Docs offers is the collaborative editing, which arrived shortly after Google's purchase of Etherpad.
However, Microsoft has steadily closing the gap in functionality. Today announced the Windows Live blog inside the arrival of Real Time Collaboration in Word Web App. Two components of the Web Office Suite - Excel and OneNote - already offer this functionality, and it was one of the Office Web Apps team the most requested features. They are understandably relieved to be able to cross it off their to-do list (which probably created in OneNote).
If you are working on a document at the same time as someone else, Word will tell you that changes have been made and lock the specific section of the document he or she will change. Once the changes are ready, save for display on your screen, quickly refreshes the contents of the document. Finally, no more e-mail employees so they know you made any changes to your SkyDrive documents saved!
As cool as the new feature itself may be, it's just so cool that two "softies made use of it to author announced the very post he is: one wrote, while the other screenshots added, with care and Word SkyDrive to see the merger. To the multi-author magic in action, check out the video below.
[geek.com]