In a rather surprising move, Google has launched Google Drive for Microsoft Office, a plugin that allows users to edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents stored in their Google Drive folders with Microsoft Office.
Once a user is finished editing a document, they can save it back to the Google Drive folder within Microsoft Word.
Users simply need to download the plugin, and Google Drive will appear in the list of storage options that Microsoft Office can connect to, similar to how Office handles documents saved in Dropbox and Box.
It's important to note that the plugin doesn't appear to work with any versions of Office that are nonstandard. For example, it doesn't seem to be working with the preview of Word 2016, Word Mobile or on any version of Word on Windows 10. Ideally, the plugin will work by the time Microsoft launches Windows 10 and Office 2016 for consumers. The plugin also only works on Windows-run computers for now.
It also seems as though the plugin was solely developed by Google, without any input by Microsoft. Microsoft Office is able to work with a wide range of plugins, making this one definitely fair game. Google is also making sure to not suggest that Office is better or more powerful than its own offerings, simply making the plugin available as an option for those more comfortable with the Microsoft Office suite of apps. While the company might not be able to lure some users away from Office toward Google Docs, it will still want to have people using Google Drive rather than Microsoft's OneDrive as a principle form of storage.
Still, it does seem like Google at least recognizes that we are in the season of Microsoft, and with a number of new releases from Microsoft on their way, a number of users will be moving back to using Office as their primary document-editing software rather than using Google's Web-based document-editing selection. This is largely due to the fact that Microsoft has begun pushing free versions of its software, which are certainly able to handle editing basics. While at one time, Google Docs was the go-to for free and easy-to-use document editing, Microsoft Office still has an aura of professionalism about it.
Those interested in the plugin and using standard versions of Office on a Microsoft computer can head to the new page for the plugin and download it.
Via: VentureBeat
