In a case of what looks like if you can't beat them, join them, Google says that it will bring Microsoft 365 integration to ChromeOS this year. That means Microsoft 365 customers can more easily access their files and apps on the platform.
You may be thinking that there is already support for Microsoft 365 and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) on OneDrive available on ChromeOS. That's correct, so what is the news here? Well, Google claims that there is a “new integration later this year on ChromeOS, making it easier to install the app and open files.”
As for details, Google says there will be a setup guide to make it easier to install Microsoft 365 apps and connect OneDrive accounts to the Files app on the platform. OneDrive will also provide documents directly in the ChromeOS Files app.
Google is not offering much more information at the moment, but the company promises more details “in the coming months.” Furthermore, users running ChromeOS on the dev and beta channels will get these features earlier.
Rare Collaboration
It is worth noting that ChromeOS is a rival to Windows and Google's Workspace platform (integrated into ChromeOS) is a rival to Microsoft 365/Office. However, despite the relative success, Workspace has largely struggled to impact the success of Microsoft's productivity services.
So, this rare instance of Google collaborating with Microsoft could simply be the company realizing it must play nice with Microsoft 365 to make ChromeOS viable to users.
Either way, the good results are for users who will now have a more seamless Microsoft 365 experience on ChromeOS.
Tip of the day: If you need to Create, Delete or Resize Partitions, Windows has everything you thanks to the built-in Disk Management-tool.
