OwnCloud Server 10.1 Brings Integration of Microsoft Office Online and Collaboration Features

OwnCloud GmbH‘s Server 10.1 brings integration of Microsoft Office Online and collaboration features.

This ownCloud version contains improvements for easier collaboration on files.

By supporting the Web Application Open Platform Interface Protocol (WOPI), it will be possible in the future to integrate Microsoft Office Online Server into ownCloud. Users can benefit from increased compatibility with MS Office formats and the visualisation of the Office user interface in the company’s solution. The file locking feature prevents version conflicts from occurring when editing a document at the same time. In addition, the tagging feature has been enhanced with ‘static tags’ that can be used to attach specific policies to individual files.

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Enhanced collaboration for Office users
With this release, the developers emphasize their ambition to further develop the file sharing software into a collaboration tool and to put an even stronger focus on productivity and content collaboration in the future. The integration of Microsoft Office Online is a step in this direction. In earlier versions, open source solutions such as Collabora Online and OnlyOffice have been integrated. Enterprise customers can edit documents stored in ownCloud with Office Online solution. This enables companies to run an Office environment on a private, secure server with the familiar user interface and full compatibility with all available Office formats.

Reduced conflicts through file locking
In addition to support for Office Online, ownCloud 10.1 includes WebDAV Locks, another feature for collaborative document editing. For example, if a company’s user edits a document using Office Online, other users can only make changes if they edit the document together also in Office Online. This prevents other users from performing conflicting changes to this document over a certain period of time. In this way, conflicts during synchronization are prevented, making collaborative editing more efficient. Locked files are identified by a symbolic key symbol in the Web interface.

Improved tagging options for admins
The ‘Collaborative Tags’ function was further developed for ownCloud 10.1 in order to achieve more automation in file management. In future, administrators will be able to create static tags and make them available to specific user groups. In applications such as the File Firewall, Document Classification or Workflow App, these tags can then be provided with certain guidelines, so that, for example, certain files can only be opened by individual user groups (e.g. executive management, department heads, etc.). Static tags are visible for each user, whereby only certain user groups are authorized to assign or remove the tags.

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Cloud Federation with OpenCloudMesh 1.0
Version 10.1 supports the open standard OpenCloudMesh 1.0. This makes it possible to connect the firm’s solution instances and to exchange information across them. Thereby a worldwide network of many decentralized nodes is created, whereby each is subject to the complete control and the individual compliance rules of the respective operator. The further development of OpenCloudMesh in cooperation with other open source providers includes a clean interface and better stability and thus creates a basis for future improvements.

Increased transparency for admins with semantic versioning
With the release of the version 10.1, the switch to Semantic Versioning will take place. This is a relief, especially for administrators, as the version number of each future release provides a faster overview of content and upgrade processes by following a Major.Minor.Patch logic (or Breaking.Feature.Fix).

Major versions containing changes, such as architectural changes, can result in interface incompatibilities. Minor versions bring functions and can also contain changes to the database. Patch releases, on the other hand, fix security gaps or bugs and can usually be installed with minimal downtime.

A detailed overview of all changes can be found in the Changelog and the release notes.

ownCloud 10.1 is available for download. The corresponding apps are available for download.