7 ms·

Microsoft Offers Office Online apps via Chrome Web Store

70 points by petrel 12y ago

igravious 12y ago
I can't seem to get this to install/load/whatever_the_jargon_is in the Chrome Web Store tied to a Google Apps (for domains) account. Anybody have any idea what magic incantation I need to mutter/mutter/invoke?
MAGZine 12y ago
Actually a pretty impressive about-face from Microsoft. I know some people are all-too-ready to see the demise of Microsoft, but I'm glad to see them try their best to be nimble. The more they fight for eyeballs, the more we win.
- djim 12y ago
  how is this nimble? the chrome web store has been around for years and so has office online. this is microsoft being forced to compete on ground they don't want to compete on. you see how by listing their apps on this web store, they have validated chrome os as a platform? whereas google still refuses to release native apps for microsoft's mobile platform, and that certainly hasn't helped microsoft. this is microsoft losing.
  - cheez 12y ago
    This guy has never released software.
    - ditojim 12y ago
      ah but i have. and these are web apps. deploying them on the chrome web store is a cinch.
  - ChuckMcM 12y ago
    "How is this nimble?" In the same way a supertanker turning with a turn radius of 5 miles is "nimble." Microsoft is a big place with a lot of entrenched products, processes, and policies. Being able to change those to enable shipping this product is 'nimble.' Continuing to not adapt to the way to the way the world is changing would be "non nimble." Personally I think it shows a lot of growth on Microsoft's part, and that is a good thing.
  - eli 12y ago
    I'm not sure how much blame should be placed on Microsoft or credit given to Google for software trending away from native applications and towards "the cloud." I think that would have happened with or without either company.
therobot24 12y ago
I posted this earlier, but it's relevant for a repost. My brother got a chrome pixel at Google I/O and he loves it. The hardware is beautiful. The interface is simple. The speed and ease of use is really unparalleled. The downside is by far the most important - the functionality is very limited due to the limited App space.
- MAGZine 12y ago
  The hardware of the pixel looks great. If Windows had a proper touchscreen driver, I'd probably buy one and load it up with Windows (or, if I could get OSX running on it...)
  - outside1234 12y ago
    Windows 8 is all about having a proper touchscreen driver - what do you mean?
    - cwyers 12y ago
      For the Pixel, I think he means.
  - ufmace 12y ago
    I thought about it a while ago, but then why not just buy a Macbook? Same price, comparable hardware looks, much better specs, much better capabilities. You can run Chrome and do all the same stuff you could do on a Chomebook, plus a ton of other stuff too.
    - lmm 12y ago
      If you can find a Macbook with the same specs for anything close to the price of the Chromebook then please do link it.
      - arjie 12y ago
        This guy has a down vote but I believe he is referencing the screen, which has a resolution unmatched by Macbooks at this price. The 'Retina' MacBook costs more.
dublinben 12y ago
Chromebooks (with either Google Drive or Office Online) are as work-worthy as Windows RT devices. Both are perfectly capable if your work only entails answering emails, browsing the web, and light word processing. If you need to do anything that isn't possible in a web-app, you'll quickly find yourself turning to a different device.
- DennisP 12y ago
  Or put your chromebook in dev mode, and turn it into a full-fledged linux machine with crouton. I tried it on a $200 Acer, worked great. And the battery life is much longer running linux at the command line.
- bachmeier 12y ago
  I put Ubuntu on my $200 Chromebook. Works great for programming, statistical analysis using R, org-mode, and pretty much anything else for work that I throw at it.
- pook1e 12y ago
  For developers, installing Crouton turns the Chromebook into a fantastic portable machine. My Acer c720 has been able to handle everything I've thrown at it, and generally lasts a full day (10-12 hours) between charges.
  - dTal 12y ago
    I keep seeing this meme, and it persuaded me to buy a Samsung Chromebook, specifically with the intent of putting Linux on it. It's awful. Forget about accelerated graphics from that nice chip - the drivers are proprietary. Oh, and so are the DSP drivers, so no HD decoding. Enjoy pressing Ctl-D every boot; don't mis-type or you'll wipe the drive. The keyboard lacks essentials such as "home", "end", and "delete". The Crouton OS and ChromeOS get into fights sometimes. HDMI is a crapshoot. I never did get VLC to stream the webcam. The finish is about as durable as whitewash. And so on. If you're a developer reading this thread and considering buying a Chromebook because it looks like a nice machine for the price, PLEASE don't. Do yourself a favor and buy a used thin 'n' light business-class laptop from 2006-8. You'll take a medium hit on battery life and weight, but you will get a comfortable, well-designed, durable, powerful machine for your money.
pasbesoin 12y ago
The "real" title is the subtitle: Offers Office Online apps via Chrome Web Store to Chrome and Chrome OS With the further qualification: The move was largely symbolic: The Office Online apps have long been able to run within virtually any browser, including Chrome, the foundation of Chrome OS. But by packaging the apps in .crx format and submitting them to the automated review run by Google, and thus publishing them to the Chrome Web Store, Microsoft put its Office Online in front of Chrome and Chrome OS users and in a place they've been trained to look for Web apps.
bmoresbest55 12y ago
It's wonderful to see everyone playing so nicely these days. Even if it is only on the surface...
candybar 12y ago
This is Microsoft realizing that Windows desktop monopoly, while mighty, doesn't necessarily translate to other markets, especially cloud services, all that well because the monopoly is based on compatibility and compatibility means leaving those holes that allow for third-parties to hijack the platform to deliver their services. Also in a world that kept needing new desktop operating systems, OS monopoly was far more valuable than app monopoly but in a world where a 10-year old operating system is hard to kill, app monopoly is more important, because OS has already been commoditized. In this sense, their Office monopoly, which is not as reliant on third-party add-ins or platform openness, and is far more based on product superiority, is more important for them to preserve. Office gives them a strong chance at dominance in business cloud services. Since they are far ahead of competitors at this point, they want to win it as quickly as possible before competitors catch up. This has nothing to do with Microsoft conceding anything - it's simply that Office is far too important to be tied to Windows.
mwfunk 12y ago
While getting Office listed in the Chrome app store is a refreshing thing for MS to do, it seems like quite a stretch to conclude that MS has conceded anything, or that this is related to how MS perceives Chromebooks. If anything, this kind of press might make MS less likely to do things like this in the future, which sucks.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > it seems like quite a stretch to conclude that MS has conceded anything I think its fair to conclude that Microsoft has conceded something -- but not necessarily about Chromebooks' "worthiness", per se. I think its fair to conclude that Microsoft has conceded that tieing the rest of the company to live and die based on the strength of the Windows OS and brand isn't good long-term strategy -- and this is just one of many signs (rebranding Azure from "Windows Azure" to "Microsoft Azure" is another.)
  - mwfunk 12y ago
    Very good point. New Microsoft (assuming there is a new Microsoft) seems like it's remembering to be a software company and not just a Windows company. I really like this approach and hope they keep at it.
frik 12y ago
Similar to ChromeOS, a Firefox OS release for notebooks would be great.
azakai 12y ago
The headline is pure linkbait. The Chrome Web Store is not a ChromeOS store, it is for Chrome on all platforms. I would bet that most people using the CWS use it on Chrome on a desktop machine, not on ChromeOS.
- dang 12y ago
  Yes. I rewrote it to use the less baity subtitle. The HN guidelines call for not rewriting titles except when they are misleading or linkbait. Edit: the article is pretty lame too. Is this a significant announcement? If it is, can someone suggest a better url? If it isn't, we may tag it as fluff.
  - ewoodrich 12y ago
    I wouldn't really say it's a significant announcement. It takes up about two sentences at the end of Microsoft's announcement of new Office Online features: http://blogs.office.com/2014/04/14/more-office-online-commenting-printing-tell-me-and-more/ http://blogs.office.com/2014/04/14/more-office-online-commen...
    - dang 12y ago
      Ok. We tagged it as fluff. This is a penalty assigned to articles that aren't intellectually substantive. Usually we apply it to obviously sensational pieces. The current one is a borderline case, so I'll take the penalty off if more people object. The tech press is good at camouflaging fluff, though, and this is one thing dragging down the quality of the front page. I believe a solution may be for HN to focus more on primary sources. We're going to be asking the community for help with this.
qat 12y ago
Has anyone tried it?

70 points by petrel 12y ago

I can't seem to get this to install/load/whatever_the_jargon_is in the Chrome Web Store tied to a Google Apps (for domains) account. Anybody have any idea what magic incantation I need to mutter/mutter/invoke?

MAGZine 12y ago

Actually a pretty impressive about-face from Microsoft. I know some people are all-too-ready to see the demise of Microsoft, but I'm glad to see them try their best to be nimble. The more they fight for eyeballs, the more we win.

djim 12y ago
how is this nimble? the chrome web store has been around for years and so has office online. this is microsoft being forced to compete on ground they don't want to compete on. you see how by listing their apps on this web store, they have validated chrome os as a platform? whereas google still refuses to release native apps for microsoft's mobile platform, and that certainly hasn't helped microsoft. this is microsoft losing.
- cheez 12y ago
  This guy has never released software.
  - ditojim 12y ago
    ah but i have. and these are web apps. deploying them on the chrome web store is a cinch.
- ChuckMcM 12y ago
  "How is this nimble?" In the same way a supertanker turning with a turn radius of 5 miles is "nimble." Microsoft is a big place with a lot of entrenched products, processes, and policies. Being able to change those to enable shipping this product is 'nimble.' Continuing to not adapt to the way to the way the world is changing would be "non nimble." Personally I think it shows a lot of growth on Microsoft's part, and that is a good thing.
- eli 12y ago
  I'm not sure how much blame should be placed on Microsoft or credit given to Google for software trending away from native applications and towards "the cloud." I think that would have happened with or without either company.

therobot24 12y ago

I posted this earlier, but it's relevant for a repost. My brother got a chrome pixel at Google I/O and he loves it. The hardware is beautiful. The interface is simple. The speed and ease of use is really unparalleled. The downside is by far the most important - the functionality is very limited due to the limited App space.

MAGZine 12y ago
The hardware of the pixel looks great. If Windows had a proper touchscreen driver, I'd probably buy one and load it up with Windows (or, if I could get OSX running on it...)
- outside1234 12y ago
  Windows 8 is all about having a proper touchscreen driver - what do you mean?
  - cwyers 12y ago
    For the Pixel, I think he means.
- ufmace 12y ago
  I thought about it a while ago, but then why not just buy a Macbook? Same price, comparable hardware looks, much better specs, much better capabilities. You can run Chrome and do all the same stuff you could do on a Chomebook, plus a ton of other stuff too.
  - lmm 12y ago
    If you can find a Macbook with the same specs for anything close to the price of the Chromebook then please do link it.
    - arjie 12y ago
      This guy has a down vote but I believe he is referencing the screen, which has a resolution unmatched by Macbooks at this price. The 'Retina' MacBook costs more.

dublinben 12y ago

Chromebooks (with either Google Drive or Office Online) are as work-worthy as Windows RT devices. Both are perfectly capable if your work only entails answering emails, browsing the web, and light word processing. If you need to do anything that isn't possible in a web-app, you'll quickly find yourself turning to a different device.

DennisP 12y ago
Or put your chromebook in dev mode, and turn it into a full-fledged linux machine with crouton. I tried it on a $200 Acer, worked great. And the battery life is much longer running linux at the command line.
bachmeier 12y ago
I put Ubuntu on my $200 Chromebook. Works great for programming, statistical analysis using R, org-mode, and pretty much anything else for work that I throw at it.
pook1e 12y ago
For developers, installing Crouton turns the Chromebook into a fantastic portable machine. My Acer c720 has been able to handle everything I've thrown at it, and generally lasts a full day (10-12 hours) between charges.
- dTal 12y ago
  I keep seeing this meme, and it persuaded me to buy a Samsung Chromebook, specifically with the intent of putting Linux on it. It's awful. Forget about accelerated graphics from that nice chip - the drivers are proprietary. Oh, and so are the DSP drivers, so no HD decoding. Enjoy pressing Ctl-D every boot; don't mis-type or you'll wipe the drive. The keyboard lacks essentials such as "home", "end", and "delete". The Crouton OS and ChromeOS get into fights sometimes. HDMI is a crapshoot. I never did get VLC to stream the webcam. The finish is about as durable as whitewash. And so on. If you're a developer reading this thread and considering buying a Chromebook because it looks like a nice machine for the price, PLEASE don't. Do yourself a favor and buy a used thin 'n' light business-class laptop from 2006-8. You'll take a medium hit on battery life and weight, but you will get a comfortable, well-designed, durable, powerful machine for your money.

pasbesoin 12y ago

The "real" title is the subtitle: Offers Office Online apps via Chrome Web Store to Chrome and Chrome OS With the further qualification: The move was largely symbolic: The Office Online apps have long been able to run within virtually any browser, including Chrome, the foundation of Chrome OS. But by packaging the apps in .crx format and submitting them to the automated review run by Google, and thus publishing them to the Chrome Web Store, Microsoft put its Office Online in front of Chrome and Chrome OS users and in a place they've been trained to look for Web apps.

bmoresbest55 12y ago

It's wonderful to see everyone playing so nicely these days. Even if it is only on the surface...

candybar 12y ago

This is Microsoft realizing that Windows desktop monopoly, while mighty, doesn't necessarily translate to other markets, especially cloud services, all that well because the monopoly is based on compatibility and compatibility means leaving those holes that allow for third-parties to hijack the platform to deliver their services. Also in a world that kept needing new desktop operating systems, OS monopoly was far more valuable than app monopoly but in a world where a 10-year old operating system is hard to kill, app monopoly is more important, because OS has already been commoditized. In this sense, their Office monopoly, which is not as reliant on third-party add-ins or platform openness, and is far more based on product superiority, is more important for them to preserve. Office gives them a strong chance at dominance in business cloud services. Since they are far ahead of competitors at this point, they want to win it as quickly as possible before competitors catch up. This has nothing to do with Microsoft conceding anything - it's simply that Office is far too important to be tied to Windows.

mwfunk 12y ago

While getting Office listed in the Chrome app store is a refreshing thing for MS to do, it seems like quite a stretch to conclude that MS has conceded anything, or that this is related to how MS perceives Chromebooks. If anything, this kind of press might make MS less likely to do things like this in the future, which sucks.

dragonwriter 12y ago
> it seems like quite a stretch to conclude that MS has conceded anything I think its fair to conclude that Microsoft has conceded something -- but not necessarily about Chromebooks' "worthiness", per se. I think its fair to conclude that Microsoft has conceded that tieing the rest of the company to live and die based on the strength of the Windows OS and brand isn't good long-term strategy -- and this is just one of many signs (rebranding Azure from "Windows Azure" to "Microsoft Azure" is another.)
- mwfunk 12y ago
  Very good point. New Microsoft (assuming there is a new Microsoft) seems like it's remembering to be a software company and not just a Windows company. I really like this approach and hope they keep at it.

frik 12y ago

Similar to ChromeOS, a Firefox OS release for notebooks would be great.

azakai 12y ago

The headline is pure linkbait. The Chrome Web Store is not a ChromeOS store, it is for Chrome on all platforms. I would bet that most people using the CWS use it on Chrome on a desktop machine, not on ChromeOS.

dang 12y ago
Yes. I rewrote it to use the less baity subtitle. The HN guidelines call for not rewriting titles except when they are misleading or linkbait. Edit: the article is pretty lame too. Is this a significant announcement? If it is, can someone suggest a better url? If it isn't, we may tag it as fluff.
- ewoodrich 12y ago
  I wouldn't really say it's a significant announcement. It takes up about two sentences at the end of Microsoft's announcement of new Office Online features: http://blogs.office.com/2014/04/14/more-office-online-commenting-printing-tell-me-and-more/ http://blogs.office.com/2014/04/14/more-office-online-commen...
  - dang 12y ago
    Ok. We tagged it as fluff. This is a penalty assigned to articles that aren't intellectually substantive. Usually we apply it to obviously sensational pieces. The current one is a borderline case, so I'll take the penalty off if more people object. The tech press is good at camouflaging fluff, though, and this is one thing dragging down the quality of the front page. I believe a solution may be for HN to focus more on primary sources. We're going to be asking the community for help with this.

qat 12y ago

Has anyone tried it?