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Whether Windows 8's radically re-imagined usage model catches on with tablet and PC users will depend in large part upon the role Microsoft Office apps will play. If it looks too much like Office 2010, then having Windows 8 relegate Office to the "Desktop" side while mobile-style apps take over the "Metro" side, won't make much sense.

This morning, Microsoft gave out the first signal of how the shift will happen. The first technical preview of The Software Probably Known as "Office 2013" has made its way to select testers, in advance of a public beta now scheduled for this summer.

Facebook's newly announced messaging platform will deeply integrate Microsoft's Office Web Apps so that Facebook users can view Word, Excel and PowerPoint attachments without having to leave the site. Rumors about this integration started to make the rounds on the Internet last week. Oddly, though, Facebook didn't mention this integration during today's press conference and makes no mention of it in the official announcement on its corporate blog.

Here's something you don't hear that often from Microsoft. A number of new releases out on the three-month anniversary of its newest software offering.

More usual is the two-year gap as is the case with most software companies that have been in the business for any period of time.

But this past week, Principal Lead Program Manager Jason Moore penned a blog post that said more than 20 million people have used Office Web Apps since its launch in June. By any measure, that's a lot of people.

When Google announced an upgrade to their Google Docs service earlier this month, a company blog post also mentioned several third-party applications which can help make the transition to the online service easier. With these apps, you can transfer and synchronize your local files to Google Docs without having to upload them one-by-one. But which application is right for you?

We took a look at the options Google suggested and have summarized the features, drawbacks and pricing information below. In addition, we also reviewed one other application not specifically mentioned in the Google blog post that may be of use to those moving to the cloud-based service.

What exactly from Office Web Apps and Office Mobile 2010 can you use on your mobile right now and what will be available when the product ships next spring?

Mary Jo Foley does the best job of outlining what is happening here. Let's take a sky high look and see if we can make sense of things so you know what to do if you really have an interest in giving Office a try on the mobile.

Office Web Applications, the browser-based versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, are now being made available to more users according to a post on the Windows Live Team blog. The online office suite, which began its initial alpha testing (in Microsoft terms, it's called a "Technical Preview") in mid-September, was originally made available to only a limited number of users. Today, the Technical Preview is opening up, allowing more people to try the Web Apps, Microsoft's first attempt at porting their desktop Office software to the cloud.