Google's Chrome OS can now edit MS Word, Excel files

Published June 29, 2013 11:44am

Users of devices running the cloud-centric Chrome OS can now start tinkering with editing Microsoft Word and Excel files, as Google is working on this new feature.

But Google's Chromium evangelist Francois Beaufort said the feature is still under development, with users having to go to the Dev channel to enable it.

"If you still have to deal with Microsoft Office files everyday on your Chrome OS Device, you can start to breathe: Chrome OS users can now experiment with editing Microsoft Excel and Word files," he said in a Google Plus post.

The more adventurous users can go to Dev Channel and enable the chrome://flags/#enable-quick-office-editing flag, and will be "good to go," he added.

But Beaufort cautioned this is still in its early stages and "might be a little bit buggy."

Meanwhile, a separate article on tech site The Next Web said it was not immediately clear why Microsoft's PowerPoint presentation app has not received the same treatment.

"Given that this technology is based on the company’s QuickOffice acquisition in June 2012, however, it’s fair to say Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will all be supported in due time," it said.

The Next Web also noted Google in April rolled out a beta of its new Chrome Office Viewer extension, which lets users view Microsoft Office files directly in the browser on Windows and OS X.

"The Office Viewer extension was ported straight from Chrome OS, suggesting Google could end up merging it into Chrome altogether one day," it said. — VC, GMA News

Tags: googlechrome