Unusual collab will make Office much easier to run on Chromebooks

Microsoft appears to be applying its "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" strategy to Google's ChromeOS.

- MARK HACHMAN

Google is promising a closer collaboration between its ChromeOS, Chromebooks, and Microsoft 365, which seems like an unusual commitment given that the two companies are usually fierce rivals in the productivity space.

Google said recently that the company will migrate users to a "new integration later this year on ChromeOS, making it easier to install the app and open files."

For most purposes, Chrome OS functions as a primarily web-based experience. Currently, ChromeOS allows users to open Office apps as Progressive Web Apps, or PWAS, which are essentially web apps that can be stored and run locally on a PC. The new integration, as Google describes it, will connect the OS more seamlessly with both Office 365 and Microsoft's OneDrive cloud.