5 ms·

A speedy, more secure way to view Microsoft Office files directly in Chrome

25 points by aritraghosh007 14y ago

staticfish 14y ago
Glad Google chose not to go down the current gmail "force everyone through Google Docs/Drive" route. Why is this a Chromebook only extension?
- andybak 14y ago
  > Why is this a Chromebook only extension? It's not. It used to be but this extension works on Chrome Beta, on Windows or Mac.
  - staticfish 14y ago
    I'm running the latest Chrome Beta channel on my mac, and the installation button is disabled for me. Anyone care to host a crx?
    - quasque 14y ago
      Does this direct link work? https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx?response=redirect&x=id%3Dgbkeegbaiigmenfmjfclcdgdpimamgkj%26lang%3Den-US%26uc https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx?response=red...
      - ninjakeyboard 14y ago
        Cannot add from hackernews.
        quasque 14y ago
        If you download the crx, then manually drag it from your downloads folder to the Extensions page, it should install.
      - staticfish 14y ago
        Thanks so much.
doki_pen 14y ago
Why Mac, Windows and Chromebook, but not Linux? There must be some proprietary code? I bet it won't run on an unlocked Chromebook either.
- quasque 14y ago
  This surprised me too, as there is proprietary code but it's a Native Client plugin, so in theory should run on Linux Chrome the same as Windows and Mac Chrome.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- ConstantineXVI 14y ago
  I seem to remember hearing this is based on Quickoffice (which Google acquired)
- cbhl 14y ago
  The extension runs perfectly fine on Linux.
guard-of-terra 14y ago
Unzipping and parsing XML with javascript doesn't sound like a very hard task, why isn't there a simple web-viewer?
- wbkang 14y ago
  MSFT's web version of office (office.live.com) actually handles Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote in web browsers without any plugins. I am not sure why Google had to write this.
  - ConstantineXVI 14y ago
    Office Web actually handles the files server-side, as does Google's own Docs/Drive. This is a purely client-side extension.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- gcr 14y ago
  That could work for 2007+ documents, but probably not the older .doc files that were in the obscure binary format.
- Spittie 14y ago
  I guess it's not that easy, just look at Libreoffice, it still struggles with somewhat-complex files.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
ninjakeyboard 14y ago
Thanks for posting this - Preview is a pain for office documents.
niggler 14y ago
Shameless plug: I've been working on pure-JS parsers for XLS and XLSX files (from old and newer versions of excel): http://niggler.github.io/js-xlsx/ http://niggler.github.io/js-xlsx/ http://niggler.github.io/js-xls/ http://niggler.github.io/js-xls/

Glad Google chose not to go down the current gmail "force everyone through Google Docs/Drive" route. Why is this a Chromebook only extension?

andybak 14y ago
> Why is this a Chromebook only extension? It's not. It used to be but this extension works on Chrome Beta, on Windows or Mac.
- staticfish 14y ago
  I'm running the latest Chrome Beta channel on my mac, and the installation button is disabled for me. Anyone care to host a crx?
  - quasque 14y ago
    Does this direct link work? https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx?response=redirect&x=id%3Dgbkeegbaiigmenfmjfclcdgdpimamgkj%26lang%3Den-US%26uc https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx?response=red...
    - ninjakeyboard 14y ago
      Cannot add from hackernews.
      - quasque 14y ago
        If you download the crx, then manually drag it from your downloads folder to the Extensions page, it should install.
    - staticfish 14y ago
      Thanks so much.

doki_pen 14y ago

Why Mac, Windows and Chromebook, but not Linux? There must be some proprietary code? I bet it won't run on an unlocked Chromebook either.

quasque 14y ago
This surprised me too, as there is proprietary code but it's a Native Client plugin, so in theory should run on Linux Chrome the same as Windows and Mac Chrome.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
ConstantineXVI 14y ago
I seem to remember hearing this is based on Quickoffice (which Google acquired)
cbhl 14y ago
The extension runs perfectly fine on Linux.

guard-of-terra 14y ago

Unzipping and parsing XML with javascript doesn't sound like a very hard task, why isn't there a simple web-viewer?

wbkang 14y ago
MSFT's web version of office (office.live.com) actually handles Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote in web browsers without any plugins. I am not sure why Google had to write this.
- ConstantineXVI 14y ago
  Office Web actually handles the files server-side, as does Google's own Docs/Drive. This is a purely client-side extension.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
gcr 14y ago
That could work for 2007+ documents, but probably not the older .doc files that were in the obscure binary format.
Spittie 14y ago
I guess it's not that easy, just look at Libreoffice, it still struggles with somewhat-complex files.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

ninjakeyboard 14y ago

Thanks for posting this - Preview is a pain for office documents.

niggler 14y ago

Shameless plug: I've been working on pure-JS parsers for XLS and XLSX files (from old and newer versions of excel): http://niggler.github.io/js-xlsx/ http://niggler.github.io/js-xlsx/ http://niggler.github.io/js-xls/ http://niggler.github.io/js-xls/