Google announced that it plans to build Microsoft 365 into ChromeOS within this year.
ChromeOS has previously supported Microsoft 365 and OneDrive Progressive Web Apps (PWA), but Google plans to go one step further, promising that “Microsoft 365 will be built directly into ChromeOS this year, making it easier to install apps and open files.”
Judging from the screenshots released by Google, users can directly set up Microsoft 365 in ChromeOS, download and install Microsoft Family Bucket with one click, and transfer files to Microsoft OneDrive.
Google says more details about the built-in will be shared “in the coming months,” and that ChromeOS testers will have earlier access to the new feature in the development and testing pipeline.
In the past, apart from the cooperation on the Chromium core browser, Google and Microsoft were competitors in the fields of office and cloud storage. However, Google has directly promoted Microsoft 365 in its own operating system. This cooperation is still very impressive. Surprising, after all Google has its own Workspace (formerly G Suite) office suite.
Even, the two sides have a dark history of attacking each other in many places.
Microsoft, which first attacked Chromebooks in an ad about a decade ago, has long been wary of Chromebooks displacing low-cost Windows laptops in education and business. Chromebooks then became very popular among students in the US, leading Microsoft to show concern about ChromeOS again in 2017.
In recent years, Microsoft has also launched competitors to Chromebooks, and last year, the launch of Windows 11 SE laptops challenged Chromebooks on campus. At the same time, Google has been working hard to narrow the gap between Chromebooks and Windows laptops, including working with Parallels to bring better support for Windows applications to ChromeOS. Now, Chromebooks can already run Windows and Android applications.
So it’s a little puzzling why Google is now opening the door for it. The only thing the two sides have in common recently is that they both have laid off more than 10,000 people. Perhaps in the face of a common crisis, can we let the former opponents cooperate together?