Google Drive for Microsoft Office is a new plugin that will allow users of both Google Drive and Microsoft Office to access their Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents easily from Google Drive. They can also save their files directly to Google Drive and edit them in Google's online apps.
Once the plugin is downloaded, users will automatically see Google Drive in the list of storage volumes and also on their desktop. If the user has an Office file that is saved in Google Drive, it can be easily opened in Microsoft Office.
The move is akin to what Microsoft did when it signed similar deals with Dropbox and Box. The latter allows users to create and edit their Office files online whereas Dropbox allows collaboration directly in Microsoft Office for Windows and Mac users.
"With Google Drive, you can keep all your important files in one place, then open them with your choice of apps and devices," says Darrell Kuhn, technical program manager of the Google Drive plugin. "With this plugin, you can use the apps you're already comfortable with, while benefitting from the security and convenience of Google Drive."
In other words, the Google Drive plugin will be displayed like a new folder on the desktop. Files in the Google Drive folder will be accessible both in Microsoft office and online.
"We believe users should be able to use the tools of their choosing and this feature makes it easier for them to seamlessly utilize both Office and Google Apps," says a spokeswoman for Google in an email.
When saving a document from Microsoft, you will be given an option to save it to My Drive. All you need to do are a few clicks and you should be able to see your document saved instantly.
According to Google, the move illustrates to the "open approach" feature of Google Drive, which has evolved from the version the company launched back in November, when it created a Chrome extension that allowed users to access their Google Drive files in the right desktop app.
There's also the speculation that Google has conceded that a number of Microsoft Office users still prefer using Microsoft Office to using Google Docs.
The new Google Drive plugin can now be installed and users of Microsoft Office for Windows are getting the plugin initially while Mac users will have to wait until it becomes available for them.
