Office 2007 Retires Web Controls

The Office Web Components (OWC) will not ship in Office 2007, although they will still be available for download. Shown here are the ship vehicles and support dates of the OWC, which are ActiveX controls that enable interactive reports and charts in Web pages.

Office 2007 does not ship with the OWC, and it removes any copies it finds on a PC when it is installed. Office 2007 also drops all features that require the controls: for example, Excel 2007 no longer supports the “add interactivity” option of its Save as Web Page dialog box.

The latest OWC will be fully supported through 2011, with security updates and paid support (Extended Support) through 2016. However, Microsoft will not make further improvements to the components, and earlier versions of the components will be retired sooner. Organizations should not create new applications that depend on the controls.

For publishing Excel spreadsheets to the Web, the most common use of OWC, Microsoft now recommends Excel Services, a feature of SharePoint Server 2007 that runs spreadsheet, PivotTable, and charting functions on the server and is browser-accessible. Excel Services has some advantages over the Office Web components, such as improved charting features and avoidance of client-side installations. However, Excel Services also lacks some features of the Office Web Components; for example, Excel Services browser users cannot alter formulas. Also, Excel Services access is not included in the price of Office; organizations must buy SharePoint Server and SharePoint Server Enterprise Client Access Licenses.