Google and Microsoft are finding ways to work together while still competing on many fronts. ChromeOS is getting much better support for Microsoft 365.
Microsoft and Google are the two tech giants who compete most viciously for dominance in the consumer computing, cloud, search and apps world. The fight battles for market share between Chromebooks and Surface laptops, as well as Chrome and Edge browsers and of course Google Search and Bing.
The compatibility and interoperability between the products and solutions of these tech giants are not great.
For example, Google originally declared Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge browser was “not supported” by the Google Drive web apps. And for its part, Microsoft tries its best to ensure its Edge browser always pushes the user to use Bing as their search engine. They finally relented in 2020 when they moved Edge to the Chromium platform, allowing users to select search engines other than Microsoft’s own.
Making Microsoft 365 work better on Chromebooks
The latest approach to do better seems to be coming from Google, who announced this week that ChromeOS will make life easier for Microsoft 365 users later this year. The improvement comes in the form of a new integration solution to help Microsoft 365 users connect their Microsoft OneDrive to the Files App in ChromeOS.
“It’s important to all Chromebook users to have the tools readily available to access the files they need to get things done,” the announcement reads. “Today, users of Microsoft 365 and OneDrive software can use the Progressive Web App for their Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Excel needs. To further help these users, we will have a new integration later this year on ChromeOS, making it easier to install the app and open files”, they say.
Once this solution becomes available, users will be offered “a guided setup experience” that takes them through the process of installing the Microsoft 365 web app and connecting Microsoft OneDrive to their Chromebook Files app. Files will be moved to Microsoft OneDrive when opening in the Microsoft 365 app, Google states.
15 hours ago
