Forum Discussion
Windows Server 2022 or 2025 Data Centre edition- concurrent editing of Microsoft office documents
Does Windows Server 2022 or 2025 Data Centre edition provide real time collaboration or concurrent editing (through workspaces etc) by multiple users on Microsoft office documents hosted on it locally.
So for the sole purpose of having concurrent editing feature of office documents, can Windows Server 2022 or 2025 Data Centre edition become an alternative to using Sharepoint server hosted locally or on premise.
Windows Server 2022 and 2025 Data Center editions provide a robust platform for hosting files and applications, they don't inherently offer the real-time co-authoring features you're looking for in Microsoft Office documents.
Here's why and what you can do:
Why Windows Server alone isn't enough:
- File Sharing vs. Co-authoring: Windows Server primarily focuses on file storage and sharing. It allows multiple users to access and edit files, but it doesn't have the built-in mechanisms for simultaneous, real-time collaboration that you get with SharePoint or OneDrive.
- Office Application Dependence: Real-time co-authoring is largely dependent on the capabilities of the Microsoft Office applications themselves (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and how they interact with the file storage system.
How to enable concurrent editing:
To achieve concurrent editing of Microsoft Office documents hosted on your Windows Server, you'll need to implement one of the following solutions:
- SharePoint Server.
- OneDrive for Business.
- Third-party Collaboration Solutions.
