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Email hosting provider Microsoft’s (News - Alert) CEO Steve Ballmer has professed 2012 to be “The most epic year in Microsoft history.” Ballmer could be referring to the proliferation of new products and services that rival companies like Google, Amazon, Apple (News - Alert) and even Facebook and now that Microsoft’s Office 2013 is using Web apps, the competition with Apple is more apparent than ever before. Although Microsoft does not own the slogan, the company is indirectly stating, “There’s an app for that.”

Brian Jones of the Office Solutions Framework Team revealed what he believes is significantly adding to Microsoft’s epic year is the cloud app model, which he called, “The most significant thing we’ve done with the Office platform in 15 years.” But according to an article from CNET, these apps are what Microsoft used to call “agaves.” .

The agaves-turned-apps for Office are basically divided into two types – the task pane app and the content app. According to the report, “Content apps let users extend apps with custom content. Task pane apps also allow custom-content extensions, but this content shows up in a task pane, side-by-side with an Office document…. There are also mail apps, access apps and project apps.”

For the most part, users will recognize the following OfficeWeb Apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote which are apparently easily recognizable since the apps appear in the same color -coding as their desktop icons.

Yet these Office Apps are “pure HTML,” so they are plug-in free, which makes them easily accessible to MAC OS and Windows users. There are also some apps that are just for fun and completely free. One such app is the Medal Tracker, enabling users to get the latest scoop on the Olympics. 

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX.  Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter.