The new version of SharePoint and Office (SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010) respectively are supposed to allow for this. This also includes the web based versions. I have seen Word and Excel in action do this, not sure about other client applications.
I am not sure about the specific implementation features you are asking about in terms of security though. Sorry.,=
Here is a discussion
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepoint/archive/2009/10/19/sharepoint-2010.aspx