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Microsoft Office Now Available On All Chromebooks (theverge.com)

Microsoft has reportedly finished testing out its Office apps on Chromebooks as a number of Chromebooks are now seeing the Office apps in the Google Play Store. Samsung's Chromebook Pro, Acer's Chromebook 15, and Acer's C771 have the Office apps available for download. The Verge reports: The apps are Android versions of Office which include the same features you'd find on an Android tablet running Office. Devices like Asus' Chromebook Flip (with a 10.1-inch display) will get free access to Office on Chrome OS, but larger devices will need a subscription. Microsoft has a rule across Windows, iOS, and Android hardware that means devices larger than 10.1 inches need an Office 365 subscription to unlock the ability to create, edit, or print documents.

71 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. IT'S A TRAP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Don't trust the soft-spoken Nadella. Microsoft is still into sucking your soul and leaving your empty shell by the wayside. They haven't changed.

    Free my ass. It's as free as the first heroine fix at your nice local dealer.

    1. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by gravewax · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That is hardly proof of anything, they develop for platforms based on popularity. Desktop Linux is a fraction of the audience of any of the OS's they support and of those on Linux that use it as a desktop only a fraction of those would be willing to pay for an office product. support for a distro has to make sense and I doubt the support cost for Ubuntu or Mint would make financial sense.

    2. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by theweatherelectric · · Score: 1

      No, desktop Linux market share is much smaller than macOS.

    3. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by theweatherelectric · · Score: 3, Informative

      OSX 3.34%

      The 3.34% figure is for only one version of macOS. Adding all the macOS versions together comes to 6.25%, so over twice the marketshare of Linux.

    4. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by kurkosdr · · Score: 1

      What is the actual market share percentage of each of those "common Linux distros" actually? Please keep in mind that support-wise, each "distro" has to be treated as its own platform. Microsoft doesn't want to spend money to develop for and support a less-than-1% platform. Let's be honest, not even FOSS projects support Linux distros properly. Ubuntu 14.04 still has VLC 2.1.6 for download in the software store while my old Windows 7 netbook runs latest 2.2.6.

    5. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by tepples · · Score: 1

      Ubuntu 14.04 still has VLC 2.1.6 for download in the software store

      Ubuntu 14.04 LTS is a fairly old long-term supported version of the operating system and includes fairly old long-term supported versions of applications. An application's publisher is free to set up a PPA for a previous LTS.

    6. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1

      Notice that MS came up with ports for iOS, Android (Linux based) and even OS X / MacOS (Unix based). Yet they canâ(TM)t manage to put it out for common Linux distro such as Ubuntu or Mint? And thatâ(TM)s despite building a linux subsystem for windows and claiming to âwant to play wellâ(TM)? Such crap.. MS hasnâ(TM)t changed itâ(TM)s ways

      Too many distros and not enough marketshare on the desktop.

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    7. Re:IT'S A TRAP! by lucasnate1 · · Score: 1

      Microsoft is not special, this is how every corporate behaves, this is what they are supposed to do in capitalism, this is we have to restrict them.

    8. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not to mention macOS is effectively a monoculture regarding support. Linux on the other hand can best be described as a clusterfuck.

    9. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 1

      Also, "Linux" is a bajillion different things. You can't just create one binary/package and be done with it. Every distro will have its own nuances, configurations, libraries, etc

      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    10. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by WallyL · · Score: 1

      I hate to say it, but they could try making a snap or flatpack or appimage... Now, that would appeal to the casual desktop GNU/Linux users.

    11. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by gravewax · · Score: 1

      perhaps learning to read a chart might be a good first step for you. Hint OSX is NOT only 3.34%

    12. Re: IT'S A TRAP! by kurkosdr · · Score: 1

      Yet I can still get latest VLC on Windows 7 and Android 5.1, which are fairly old too. Go figure.

  2. Isn't the app just a frontend for the website? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    And if so, why shouldn't I use the website in the first place? Offline abilities?

  3. Why? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Serious question: why would you want to use MS Office Lite for a fee when Google Docs and LibreOffice ownCloud are free? Maybe it's just me but I think the people who are buying Chromebooks aren't looking to throw away money on software.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:Why? by karmawarrior · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm using Microsoft Word for my resume as most employers still need documents in .docx format, and I am seeing very real formatting issues when converting Google Docs documents to .docx.

      I was hoping to use Google Docs for the entire thing, I used a Google Docs off-the-shelf template to build my resume and after filling everything in found two major issues:

      1. It wouldn't print the bullets (WTF?).
      2. When I exported it to Word, there were major issues with the settings for the tables. Margins were screwy. Horizontal lines that were part of the template were now inconsistent. Rows all started on new pages.

      I really want to use Docs for this kind of thing, and if I ran my own multi-employee company I'd be seriously tempted to go full-on Google Apps for everything, but unfortunately I'm at the mercy of the standards everyone else has set. Hopefully long term other options will become more practical.

      --
      KMSMA (WWBD?)
    2. Re:Why? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      So I notice you ignored the existence of LibreOffice ownCloud, is there some reason for that?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Why? by karmawarrior · · Score: 1

      I tried LibreOffice too. Word (Word Starter Edition FWIW, you can run it under Windows 10 with the right patches) was my last choice because the f---ing ribbon makes it almost unusable, but it was the only way to produce a Word document with anything other than trivial formatting that appears correctly in Word. Indeed I didn't even try Office Online because I've had problems in that seeing tables correctly formatted.

      I assume LibreOffice ownCloud is as compatible with word as desktop LibreOffice. Loading the file exported from Google Docs into (desktop) LibreOffice produced something closer to the Google Docs version (proving that it doesn't interpret .docx the same way Microsoft Office does either.)

      Why not mention it? Well:

      1. I haven't set up OwnCloud, I'm planning to, but I don't have the hardware ready for it.
      2. Desktop LibreOffice's quirks when handling .docx files are well documented. LibreOffice itself even warns you when you try to save a file as .docx even if all you've done is load a .docx and tried to save it as one.

      But sure, if you want me to state it explicitly, LibreOffice is not suitable for anything other than informal exchange of documents with Word users either.

      I don't know about the mobile applications under discussion here, I'd hope they're more compatible than Office Online, but as of now the only version of Office I found works with Office is, well, Desktop Office.

      It sucks, but that's the situation.

      --
      KMSMA (WWBD?)
    4. Re:Why? by Bert64 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Most employers don't care what format your resume comes in so long as they can open it... Most employers will be able to open PDF, and you have a much lower risk of formatting errors if you use PDF. I write my resume in latex and export to pdf, never had a problem.

      --
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    5. Re:Why? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I always send my CV in PDF form. As well as almost always displaying correctly on a variety of systems, it prevents information leakage. Last thing you want is for the prospective employer to hit ctrl-Z a few times and see what edits you made.

      The only people who have demanded Word documents have been recruiters. If they do, run. The only reasons they want the Word document are so that they can copy/paste the contents into a portfolio more easily, or so that they can edit it themselves.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    6. Re:Why? by coofercat · · Score: 1

      It could be a way to provide cheap(ish) laptops to administrative staff at your company. Everyone else gets a proper laptop, but the receptionist and a few others get chromebooks.

      The problem I've found (being at a windows-mostly, but macs for some people company) is that the mac version of O365 works well enough, but there are a few wrinkles which obviously Apple won't do anything about. Talking to Microsoft seems as much use as talking to yourself a lot of the time, and so there are apparently no solutions to some of the problems we have. Thus, one wonders if 'saving' on the OS and using a Mac or Chromebook isn't much of a saving after all, if you really, really need O365/one drive/sharepoint or whatever to work for everyone.

      As for me personally, I find Libreoffice (fat client) on my Mac works beautifully well. The wife doesn't like it on her windows laptop because of 'compatibility issues', but then regularly seems to have problems with the Microsoft product as well. It seems like there isn't actually a 100% good office suite anywhere.

    7. Re:Why? by karmawarrior · · Score: 1

      I always send my CV in PDF form. As well as almost always displaying correctly on a variety of systems, it prevents information leakage. Last thing you want is for the prospective employer to hit ctrl-Z a few times and see what edits you made.

      I'd prefer PDF but you'd be surprised how many US employers actually reject it. UK may be different.

      The only people who have demanded Word documents have been recruiters. If they do, run. The only reasons they want the Word document are so that they can copy/paste the contents into a portfolio more easily, or so that they can edit it themselves.

      Oh that'd be terrible if someone whose job it is to find my a job cleaned my resume. Heavens forfend that THEY DO THEIR FUCKING JOB!

      Seriously, as long as they don't change what the resume says about me, they can have at it. A number have sent me back my resume with their suggestions - it's been helpful.

      --
      KMSMA (WWBD?)
    8. Re:Why? by nine-times · · Score: 2

      I always send my CV in PDF form... The only people who have demanded Word documents have been recruiters.

      I generally send my resume in PDF, and as someone who receives resumes, I'd encourage people to do the same. However, one of the things I've learned from being on both sides of the interview process is, everyone does things differently. I have seen employers who demands Word documents, or plain-text, or HTML in the body of the email that you're sending. Maybe they're just quirky, or maybe they have a system that automatically parses the text and that system handles some formats better than others.

      I've talked to hiring managers who just don't understand why anyone would send a resume in any format other than Word, and if they receive a PDF, they throw it out. They don't even put something in the job posting saying, "Send your resume in Word format." They just assume that everyone knows Word is the most convenient format for them, and anyone who sends anything else is being difficult.

      Job hunting is just chaos. Thinking that there's some common set of expectations indicates that you don't know how it works.

    9. Re:Why? by jon3k · · Score: 1

      I'm using Microsoft Word for my resume as most employers still need documents in .docx format, and I am seeing very real formatting issues when converting Google Docs documents to .docx.

      I think I speak for every employer in the world when I say: please, save it as a PDF.

    10. Re:Why? by DogDude · · Score: 1

      Because you care about privacy, maybe?

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    11. Re:Why? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Sending a PDF is a good sanity check for the company. If the hiring manager can't understand why you wouldn't send a .docx, or company policy requires Word documents, you know that you don't want to work there anyway and they saved you some hassle.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    12. Re:Why? by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Most employers don't care what format your resume comes in so long as their automated web application process approves the file type

      FTFY. You're assuming a certain level of human common sense when in fact what you're doing is arguing semantics with a machine, or worse still a HR person.

    13. Re:Why? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      but I think the people who are buying Chromebooks aren't looking to throw away money on software.

      By throwing money away you're realising you're talking about the cost of a large cup of coffee once a month on an entire office suite right?

      Chromebooks aren't just for poor people, and when people are happily spending $100/mth on cable, an additional $8 to get an office suite that is compatible with the formats used in general throughout the world isn't going to break the bank.

    14. Re:Why? by karmawarrior · · Score: 1

      What the recruiter actually does is take your resume, add in a bunch of job requirements you may or may not have...

      That's what shitty recruiters do, yes. It's not what all recruiters do. And saying "I'm not going to let a good recruiter do their job because I can't distinguish between shitty recruiters and good recruiters" is cutting off your own nose to spite your face.

      Remember, adding fake qualifications isn't going to get you anything other than an interview. Once you're at that interview, your complete lack of knowledge about those skills will become apparent. So any recruiter worth their salt doesn't do this.

      What I've seen with my own eyes are recruiters removing skills from a resume to ensure the skills that the employer is looking for are more prominent.

      But that's not even the primary use. I've mostly seen them cut and paste resume information into a format that's more standardized so they can send three applicants to an employer and the employer can easily compare them.

      Yes, a lot of recruiters are shit. But that doesn't mean that it's sane or sensible to make it impossible to do their job. You wouldn't refuse to bring your driver's license or trade-in to a car dealership simply because car dealers have a bad rep, would you?

      --
      KMSMA (WWBD?)
    15. Re:Why? by PPH · · Score: 2

      "Send your resume in Word format."

      Which version?

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    16. Re:Why? by PPH · · Score: 1

      LibreOffice is not compatible enough with word to exchange documents with Word users.

      Hmm. I open docx files in LibreOffice all the time. No problems. Perhaps Word has a problem opening other than its own native formats. That's a Word problem.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    17. Re:Why? by btroy · · Score: 1

      PDF's are often blocked by systems. Plus they frequently specify doc/docx so they're automated scanning systems can work.

    18. Re:Why? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      For a fee? My Android tablets are all 10.1" or smaller. I am not that keen on the 'latest-greatest' Android tablet hardware market, but the predominant number of Android tablets are 10.1" or smaller.

      And in spite of the screeching you will hear from Ipad owners and other Apple partisans, there are quite a range of really GOOD Android tablets on the market. The Asus Zenpads are fairly awesome, for example.

    19. Re:Why? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      LibreOffice saves in .pdf as well as .doc/.docx/.odf. Most employers don't mine a resume in .pdf format, and it's virtually guaranteed to display/format correctly.

    20. Re:Why? by Mr_Silver · · Score: 1

      I always send my CV in PDF form. As well as almost always displaying correctly on a variety of systems, it prevents information leakage. Last thing you want is for the prospective employer to hit ctrl-Z a few times and see what edits you made.

      No version of Microsoft Word has ever stored your edit history in such a way that you can load up a document and start mashing ctrl-z to see earlier edits.

      If you accidentally turn on "track changes" then ctrl-z still wouldn't work - but you would be sharing a marked up list of your previous edits. When used correctly, that's a very useful piece of functionality.

      --
      Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
    21. Re:Why? by nine-times · · Score: 1

      That's easy enough to say. Everyone on the Internet is always so quick to advocate quitting your job and disregarding job opportunities, but some people in this world actually need to work. I'm not sure everyone can afford to be so dismissive of a company because one hiring manager has odd or overly specific expectations. Also, I've had plenty of experience sorting through resumes, and there's a point at which you have to disqualify some resumes for fairly arbitrary reasons. When you have a few hours to sort through hundreds of resumes, you might start tossing out resumes because you don't like their font choice, so in that context, ditching the resumes that aren't in your preferred format doesn't seem so weird.

      On the other hand, I don't necessarily disagree with you. Or I'd put it this way: You're going to have to make a choice of which format to send your resume, and I think PDF is the best choice. There's probably some hiring managers somewhere that will ignore you for that reason, but there's only so much you can do, and I'd probably rather work in a company with a hiring manager that disqualifies you for sending a PDF than in a company that disqualifies you for some other crazy format. If you really want the job and the job posting doesn't specify, you can try sending both a PDF and Word file, and explaining that you've done that so they can use whichever format is more convenient to them.

    22. Re:Why? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      If the text in a .pdf is saved as text (as opposed to an image), these kind of programs usually handle pdfs just fine. Libre/Openoffice creates .pdfs that work fine in this situation.

    23. Re:Why? by StormReaver · · Score: 1

      Hopefully long term other options will become more practical.

      I use LibreOffice in our Microsoft Office dominated workplace, and I have had zero problems reading and writing coworkers' files.

    24. Re:Why? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      For a fee? My Android tablets are all 10.1" or smaller.

      that's nice but most chromebooks have a 13" screen. so yes, for a fee.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    25. Re:Why? by StormReaver · · Score: 1

      ...as most employers still need documents in .docx format....

      I haven't had any employer require a Word formatted resume since 1999. While some allow it, all of them say that PDF is preferred.

    26. Re:Why? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      Microsoft and Google have the same views on privacy which is "privacy is dead". If you want privacy then you would use the LibreOffice ownCloud port because it won't rat you out.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    27. Re:Why? by DogDude · · Score: 1

      Microsoft and Google have the same views on privacy which is "privacy is dead".

      That's not true. You don't need a Microsoft ID to use Windows Phone 10 or MS Office.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    28. Re:Why? by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Paste the PDF into Word and save. Done.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  4. With M$ IT'S always a trap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    20 years ago $lashdot was a site with a consensus that knew the evil acts being performed by M$ to hold onto their illegal monopoly. Their tactic? Embrace, extend, extinguish. M$ started using astroturfers to infiltrate $lashdot. When Google was just starting to get huge and handing M$ their asses to them Sweaty B then threw a chair at someone that defected to Google and declared 'I'm going to fucking kill Google". Today M$ is using said tactics against GNU/Linux and, by extension, Android. M$ knows their Vista 10 as a portable OS is a huge flop and now they are using embrace, extend, extinguish to eliminate Google and eventually, GNU/Linux. $lashdot is practically nothing more than a M$ shillpiece, astroturfing for M$ and this story prove it. it is too late to do anything now that Sweaty B's buddy Trump is President. M$ will use the president to eliminate free software. Stallman warned us that there will be those that will eliminate free software and force us to rely on non-free software yet not many listened. M$ hasn't changed and M$ will become a monopoly again.
    --
    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
    Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.

    1. Re:With M$ IT'S always a trap by volodymyrbiryuk · · Score: 3, Interesting

      M$ is scared shitless of Google so they try to regain some ground in the office department, cause Chromebook users started using Google Docs more. They won't become a monopoly again because they are a de-facto monopoly for office applications but hopefully this will change in the future.

      --
      sudo rm -r -f --no-preserve-root /
    2. Re:With M$ IT'S always a trap by kurkosdr · · Score: 3, Interesting

      While Google Docs can't hold a candle to MS Office (it cannot do something as basic as auto page numbering in a table of contents), Microsoft wants to cover their bases, and particularly those people who need very basic Office formatting capabilites. Microsoft is afraid that Google Docs will become an acceptable "baseline". Would go as far as saying "scared shitless" though. MS Office's bread and butter, aka universities and businesses, are not threatened. The sheer number of templates available makes a big lock-in.

    3. Re:With M$ IT'S always a trap by hajile · · Score: 1

      There's some truth here. You stick with what you know. 60 something percent of students are using Chromebooks. If MS wants them to use Office later, they have to make sure it's available as soon as possible.

    4. Re:With M$ IT'S always a trap by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      M$ is scared shitless of Google

      I don't see why. M$ is a software company.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  5. Re:Wow! by kurkosdr · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes. If your job involves opening docx, pptx or xlsx files created with Microsoft Office, and you need 100% compatibility with those files, you need Microsoft Office. Period. Nobody is going to risk incompatibilities when their job depends on it or whine at people to resend as ODF, because their ability to pay rent and eat depends on that job. Then there are university students who need to open MS Office templates and presentations. In addition, Powerpoint doesn't mess up your slides when saving and restoring because something was an invisible half-pixel off (like Impress does), and Word doesn't redline words just because it chose to use a dictionary from another language (like Writer does).

  6. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  7. No by Ayano · · Score: 2

    Nice try MS.

    --
    I don't read AC
  8. haa! haa! So sweet! by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
    First they ignored it.

    Then they laughed at it,

    Then they fought it.

    Then it won.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  9. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  10. So? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    And nothing of value was gained...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  11. Re:Wow! by Bert64 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you need 100% compatibility you have to be running the exact same version, on the exact same hardware and configured to use the exact same printer... In practice, 100% compatibility is never achieved with the msoffice files and you can just get varying degrees of compatibility depending what you're doing... In some instances, libreoffice actually does a better job of opening files and in some it doesn't. The only real difference is that people are conditioned to accept the incompatibilities and bugs with msoffice so they overlook them.

    --
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  12. Re:Wow! by shortscruffydave · · Score: 1

    True.

    I have quite a few documents, presentations, etc. which I couldn't consider to be especially complex or quirky...Full MS Office handles them OK, but LibreOffice and OpenOffice either fail to open, crash with, or open in some corrupted form. Even the free Office Mobile apps handle these files better than Libre/Open do.

  13. Re:Wow! by kurkosdr · · Score: 1

    Which is why so many universities provide students with a license for the latest MS Office when enrolled (because that's what their professors use), and any serious professional who needs to open and edit docx, xlsx or pptx knows to have the latest version installed and so do the other professionals he/she works with. Hardware is irrelevant (when we are talking about the real MS Office here, not the little web version) and printer settings are always set to sufficient margin. That's how template and document exchange works in the real world. LibreOffice has too many gaps in OOXML support, sorry. However, LibreOffice is good for opening ODFs, hence many printing shops who need to open documents from both Libre and MS Office actually have both. So yeah, people are still using MS Office. And PhotoShop. And AutoCAD. And MATLAB. Deal with it.

  14. 10 inches, does that count Chromecast? by HalAtWork · · Score: 1

    "Microsoft has a rule across Windows, iOS, and Android hardware that means devices larger than 10.1 inches need an Office 365 subscription to unlock the ability to create, edit, or print documents"

    So if I have a 9" tablet does it suddenly lock up when I use Chromecast w/ Bluetooth mouse/keyboard?

  15. Fabulous! by hyades1 · · Score: 1

    Microsoft Office Now Available On All Chromebooks

    And in other excellent news, my dog has announced that its feces will be available from time to time on neighbours' lawns.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  16. Excel still closer to Excel than LO Calc is by tepples · · Score: 1

    If you need 100% compatibility you have to be running the exact same version

    Different versions of Microsoft Excel are maybe 90 percent compatible. LibreOffice Calc, on the other hand, is maybe 50 percent because the macro APIs are completely different. An inventory feed validator application supplied by Amazon as an Excel workbook with macros is likely to run across supported versions of Excel but not on LO Calc.

  17. .."available on all chromebooks" bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    .. it's only available if you pay the fucking microsoft tax you were trying to avoid in the first place by buying a chromebook.....

    and this ain't no 99c app. it's 7.99... *a month*.... for a stripped down, slow, buggy, poke-the-finger version of office.

  18. Re:Wow! by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

    As a grad student (who's also taken a few undergrad classes recently), I use LibreOffice. Opening things like syllabus documents isn't ever a problem. As far as saving and submitting online or via email, I just save in .pdf format, which basically guarantees that a document will be readable to the professor.

  19. This is good for Chromebooks by btroy · · Score: 1

    My experience. Yes, my kids use Google Docs/present/etc. in grade and high school.

    As soon as they move into College, MS Office is a must. Suddenly, the Chromebook/Linux Box ceased to be as useful as there are formatting issues galore when converting to PowerPoint and Word. Though I did find the latest version of Libreoffice has improved, but still not perfect.

    1. Re:This is good for Chromebooks by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      Having taken some undergrad classes recently, LibreOffice works fine, even for scientific writing.

      Note that the school actually offers Office 365, but since I run a Linux desktop primarily, I haven't been bothered to install it in a Windows VM. (I can get email via secure IMAP to the hosted Exchange.)

  20. 10.1 screen by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

    How does it determine screen size? Seems like this would be something fairly easy to spoof to "unlock" full functionality on devices with bigger screens.

  21. Looks like it'll be a PIA to implement... by bensafrickingenius · · Score: 1

    Hmmm, even my *brand new* Chromebooks are too old to run Android apps without "migrating user profile data to Android N's new filesystem." Not sure I have time to engage that particular tar-baby... https://support.google.com/chr...

    --
    I am not left-handed, either!
  22. Misleading headline... by Schnapple · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...though not really Slashdot's fault as they're just passing the message along.

    Microsoft Office is available on all Chromebooks that support running the Google Play Store and whatever Android apps it has in it

    If you have a Chromebook not on the supported list and/or running the wrong kind of processor (though mostly just old Chromebooks) then you can't run the Google Play Store and therefore you can't run Office in the manner described here.

    What the article was really trying to say is that for some period of time only selected Chromebooks that ran the Google Play Store could run it, artificially limited due to testing purposes. That's done now. But if you're like me and you still have some ancient Acer Chromebook you're not getting it. I know, I tried last night thinking this was an "app" in the way that most ChromeOS "apps" are (i.e., just web pages pretending to be apps)

  23. Microsoft will go the way of IBM by Hal_Porter · · Score: 1

    IBM used to be a byword for proprietary lock in. Then PC clones took over and IBM's attempt at moving people from them to PS/2s, MCA and OS/2 failed.

    And then IBM changed to be a proponent of open systems, The Cloud and so on.

    Of course The Cloud gives another kind of lock in because the company that controls your cloud accounts controls all your data. For a long time Google kept people from noticing this because your Gmail data limit grew with time. Now it's stopped growing and because people don't delete their emails in Gmail, eventually they'll need to start paying. And Google have all your data, which means they can monetize it.

    Microsoft could offer Office on iOS, Android and Chromebooks and then do what Google did. MS Office after all still has a certain amount of cachet in the mind of the general public.

    Interesting thing is their pricing model

    https://www.theverge.com/2016/...

    Microsoft has offered Office free to Android and iOS devices for two years now, with some restrictions for larger devices. Now that Chromebooks are starting to get access to Android apps, those same restrictions will apply for Google's laptops. Just like the iPad Pro, Chromebooks with a screen larger than 10.1 inches will not be able to access Microsoft Office editing free of charge.

    This restriction includes most Chromebooks on the market, and it's only devices like ASUS' Chromebook Flip (10.1-inch display) that will be able to use Microsoft Office free of charge. "Google Play on Chrome OS is in beta, we are partnering with Google to deliver the best experience for Chromebook users and plan to make the apps available on all compatible devices by general availability," explains a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to 9to5Google. "On devices larger than 10.1 inches, an Office 365 subscription is required to unlock the ability to create, edit, or print documents."

    This isn't a new strategy or policy, and Microsoft isn't unfairly targeting Chromebooks. The software giant revealed last year that it would classify a machine with a 10.1-inch display or below as a "true mobile device." Microsoft applied the same rules to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, while the smaller iPad Pro still retains free access to Microsoft Office. Microsoft currently offers individual Office 365 Personal subscriptions for $6.99 per month, or $69.99 a year.

    I.e. it's free on cheap device. It's $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year on expensive ones. Of course in the long run more devices will have screens above 10.1 inches and that means people will need to pay. It's smart, but it's a trap.

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  24. Because I don't currently run ownCloud by tepples · · Score: 1

    So I notice you ignored the existence of LibreOffice ownCloud, is there some reason for that?

    I had never heard of LibreOffice ownCloud. A web search produced a first result that isn't responding. (I checked on isup.me and the site appears to be down.)

    The following is conjecture based on what little I know about ownCloud from other sources: In order to evaluate it, I would need to do one of two things, neither of which is without charge. One is purchase a server on which to run ownCloud and upgrade my home Internet to business class in order to have a static IP, avoid blocks of inbound ports 80 and 443, and avoid a disconnection penalty for running a server. The other is lease a VPS on which to run ownCloud. Either way, I would also need to buy a domain.

  25. Re:I want a mod. I want a mod... by tepples · · Score: 1

    Developer mode threatens to wipe the storage every time you turn on your Chromebook. (Learn More)

  26. Oh... by namoland9 · · Score: 1

    Oh, what a shocker, an unnecessary cross-platforming decision that no one actually cared about in the long run. I mean, what's wrong with google docs? yet everyone seems to focus on how it's done. https://droidinformer.org/Stor... I probably sound like an asshole but this tricky strategy of no development is annoying as hell.