Chromebooks now get Microsoft Office

Starting Nov 22, Chromebooks that have Google Play android support enabled now have access to Microsoft office android apps.

Spoiler

I'll be investigating this as previously it was required that you have a Office 365 account.

-also-
some comments about it on google plus.

https://chromeunboxed.com/news/microsoft-office-lands-on-chromebooks-everywhere/

 

So.... they will now also have MS Office rather than simply being expensive browsers?

 

There was some controversy about Microsoft limiting Office for Android on ChromeOS to devices that had screen sizes of 10 inches or less or something to that effect. This has apparently been fixed so all Chromebooks can now install the Android Office suite. I've been using it for a while on mine, and it works surprisingly well.

 

Yes.

Spoiler

Expensive browser

and

Fast startup ✔
Sandboxed OS ✔
Encrypted storage ✔
Great battery life ✔
Local storage ✔
Offline support ✔
Built in PDF viewing ✔
2FA support ✔
Pin unlock ✔
Android phone proximity unlock ✔
Work with MS office docs ✔
Google play store apps ✔
Cloud sync ✔
One click OS update ✔
EDU enrollment ✔
Install MS office apps ✔

 

Still just a browser

 

Not exactly. Android apps on a chromebook run in a sandboxed container and have nothing to do with the browser. Also the Files app, Photos app, and video playback app on a chromebook are separate from the browser.

 

Nope. If it was "just a browser," it could do literally nothing without an internet connection. That's not the case.

 

So it does "almost nothing" then?

That's the problem with Chomebooks, it does nothing I want to do on a laptop, except a few items I do on my phone - large screen phone.

I need to carry a laptop, and a phone, why would I add a Chomebook to my carry around bag when I could add a Macbook (Air) or Tablet (Android, Win, PC).

To me the Chromebook has always been that Linux laptop that for whatever reason Google just won't release.

Same for Linux as Android, what a disappointment it was to me (and many others) when it turned out Android was a suck-set of Linux, just enough to make you hopeful, but not enough to allow porting of useful Linux applications.

Google wake up, give us Linux on phones and laptops, and put your pretty gui's on top of it, but let us get a shell window and full linux support!!

Adding MS Office to Chromebooks will likely religate a bunch of sad folk to using Chrome instead of getting a full PC or Mac laptop or desktop, now that's depressing.

 

Funniest part is that my 2012 iPad still handles work better than some Chromebooks I've seen and has better battery life so yeah, I agree with @hmscott entirely.

 

If you're already carrying a laptop PC with you and want a full Windows PC/MacOS experience, it's not for YOU. That's fine. But it doesn't mean it's useless. For a lot of people, inexpensive hardware and a simple interface, plus better multi-window management than an iPad in a folio case, has a lot of appeal. Tell me what other OS gives you a screen comparable to a Samsung Chromebook Plus (12" 2400x1600 3:2 IPS) and a keyboard and trackpad and touchscreen, all for an out the door price of $350.

If that device can do Office and a web browser in a simple malware-resistant format, that's all some people want and a killer value for the dollar. It's not for everybody, but nothing is.

As for "offer Linux machines instead," 2017 was not "the year of Linux on the desktop" and I doubt 2018 will be either.

 

UNIX / BSD + Micro Kernel is the base for MacOS, Minix the base of Intel ME (sigh), so UNIX is everywhere.

Linux as the base for an OS under the Android / Chrome GUI is an awesome idea, opening up a huge library of tools for developers and real computer users, and giving a solid base OS for the "GUI Crowd" which has grown largely due to pushing it so hard without actually helping the public become computer savvy.

Learning how to use a real computer command line isn't outside the realm of possibility for anyone. I've taught all walks of people how to use a command shell on UNIX / Linux / MacOS / etc and they didn't have to have a technical background to use it.

Limiting Chrome and Android to a subset of Linux has killed a huge breakthrough world of use, and is holding them both back from replacing Windows and MacOS, as well as all desktop and server Linux OS's.

IDK what Google is thinking, I thought they wanted to own and control everything, but they are leaving a huge opportunity on the table.

 

The people that start out carrying a Chromebook that grow even a little in their need for more, soon outgrow a Chromebook. I've seen it happen a lot, from taking it back right away to "waiting" for something they hear is coming to arrive, and then never returning it - or using it.

I'm sure there are vertical solutions designed to use a Chromebook, but really it's only to lock the use in to a narrow range of use.

So in that way you're right, a Chromebook is great if you don't need a real computer, which is what I was saying would / could be cured by using the same hardware with a full implementation of Linux.

It's not going to stop the current usage of the hardware for vertical solutions, and will instead open up a whole new wider market for Chrome / Android that will lift everyone by creating a need for more hardware - cheaper through higher volumes of scale.

 

Teaching people to drive a horse-drawn carriage isn't outside of the realm of possibility for anyone either. Still, 99% of modern people would prefer an automobile to a horse-drawn carriage if given the choice.

If you think Google is leaving money on the table by ignoring command-line interfaces and instead focusing on a simple, user-friendly GUI aimed at students and "average people" instead of hardcore tech enthusiasts, you and I have very, very different ideas of what has potential for mass-market success.

My wife uses a Chromebook as her primary home computer. My kids use Chromebooks at school, where they offer the schools low price, stability, easy management, and user data stored in a cloud account instead of on a specific PC. It's not that they're too stupid to learn a command line interface if they had to; it's that ChromeOS is a better tool for the job they have.

 

You are skewing this the wrong way, IDK if on purpose for fun, or you just don't get it, but let's try again

I didn't intend this to skew to command line vs GUI, I am saying provide a Full OS to allow for a full development environment and a real Full OS to run applications.

A full UNIX environment gives more tools for developing software, including GUI software, like a real OS - like MacOS - except starting with what is available now make's it lots better - more years of kernel, services, libraries, and applications development progress to use as a base for making a better OS to run GUI software.

I didn't say replace the GUI with command line, I am saying bring a full OS for developing better software and delivering better software.

The command line is great for developers, QA testing, project management, etc. It's not a horse and buggy (no pun intended) it's actually the rocket science side of computing vs. the "limited boxed in" GUI user interface.

Calling CLI's "horse and buggy" shows your lack of experience, which is fine, but don't lock yourself out of things you don't know before you know it.

The argument that Android and Chrome are providing enough OS services already ignores the simple question, what is enough?

And, I'd say Android and Chrome aren't enough, compared to a full UNIX / Linux OS.

 

And if that's what Google wanted, it would have done so. Now, one should not have total faith in engineers and MBAs, but I would tend to trust them a lot more than a forum armchair quarterback.

 

Yeah, well you'd be incorrect then

Google doesn't run their servers on Android or Chrome, they run them on UNIX / Linux.

That should be enough to tell you are wrong, but let's assume you need more info.

Google doesn't use Chrome or Android for development of their online services, their search engine, their AI development, or anything of consequence - they use UNIX / Linux.

It's possible to run Linux on the Chrome hardware, Google wouldn't need to offer faster hardware, but they could - as it would now be useful - faster hardware for Chrome or Android only makes the pretty icons swim faster.

Unifying the OS on the Chromebook hardware and Android hardware with Linux would be possible, and most likely Google will eventually make that happen.

Nobody that actually does anything with a computer wants a Chromebook, and you all aren't doing anyone any favors by saddling them with one. It's a limited sandbox to play in, and it only got a little bigger with MS Office.

The whole idea of a Chromebook is self-limiting, and it doesn't take long before anyone using a Chromebook hits those limits and needs - wants - more.

I mean think about it, the saving grace for Chromebooks is MS Office??, yipe!!

 

These thoughts on ditching Chrome OS for Android, expanding Android with a full Linux OS to compete with Windows and MacOS aren't new.

Chrome OS was supposed to be going away in 2017, with Google merging both into one, and ditching the idea of supporting multiple OS's:

Chrome OS: 3 reasons Google should ditch it, and one reason it shouldn't
Commentary: Has Google's glorified Web browser-of-an-operating system worn out its welcome?
OCTOBER 31, 2015 5:00 AM PDT
https://www.cnet.com/news/3-reasons-why-google-may-be-folding-chrome-os-into-android/

Every reason to get rid of Chrome OS, merging it with Android, and growing Android into a full OS with Linux as a base still exists today.

Google is weird, they have a strange culture there that can cancel a great idea and project after a short time, or let half-baked ideas linger on for years.

Google aren't as well organized and directed to an overall mission as you might think.

And, it's quite possible Google will completely miss the opportunity to replace Windows and MacOS with their own full OS.

Buying a $999 Pixelbook is ridiculous, and it shows just how wrong Chromebook has gone over the years. It's still the OS for a sub $100 device, but it's grown dependent on "growing" in perception, and cost is that perception. OMG, the Pixelbook *pen* is a $99 option!! $1100 total!!

Sub-$100 was what the whole device price target goal was back when Chromebook started, now Chromebook from Google costs 11x more!!

For the same $ (or less!!) you can get a Windows laptop that is much better and still runs Chromebook applications through the Windows Chrome browser, and have the entire Windows world to explore when you want more than apps and web browsing.

There is literally no good reason to buy a Chromebook for $1100!!

Now, I would love Google to make Android / Chromebook into a real OS, and the rest of Linux is there waiting to be ported and merge it all into a cohesive whole OS, that I would be happy to use as an alternative to the floundering Windows 10, and the ancient unpinnings of MacOS.

That's why I am so hot to get this done by Google, and not continue to drag on for years with Chromebook and Android as the only alternatives, because they aren't viable alternatives.

Come on Google, you almost got it right early on, and then gave up the mission, only to have the developers desires squish up and out as Chromebook's.

You can do better.

 

Why rant against the price of a Pixelbook when this isn't a thread about the Pixelbooks, and entry-level Chromebooks cost $200ish while most other premium Chromebooks besides the Pixelbook are in the $400ish range? Red herring. It's an odd product but it's not at all representative of the market.

When you limit "doing anything" to coding or software development or running a server, you're missing the vast majority of the consumer market. For example, I've been practicing civil litigation for a dozen years. Most of my work--and it's very "real work"--involves MS Office documents, web browsers, and PDFs. This is actually pretty common outside of STEM fields. Just because chromebooks are not for comp sci power users doesn't mean they're only good for Facebook.

Adding MS Office apps to a Chromebook is a substantial change in how useful it is to a professional or student in the social sciences or humanities. Whether or not the reason for this thread makes a difference to you, it makes a difference to many others.

 

Thank you I didn't want that point to get buried:

" Adding MS Office apps to a Chromebook is a substantial change in how useful it is "

That says to me that Chromebooks "were" practically useless before MS Office was released for Chrome OS, which is what I was trying to say in the first place.

Issuing a strictly limited "Linux distro" like Chrome OS or Android is at the heart of why both of those "Linux distro"'s are half-baked OS's.

The excuse was made for Android hand held devices not needing full OS support, based on the flimsy excuse that the hardware wasn't strong enough, and to saddle the Phone OS with a full Linux would required more expensive hardware be used.

But, as soon as Chrome OS was in development, and the first "laptop's" running Chrome OS came out, it was clear that Chrome OS focused on creating a fenced realm limited for "business" and "education" use, and aimed at the netbook market.

Now that $1000 Android phones and $1000 Chromebooks are the standard, it's clearly time to port the rest of the Linux OS and vast applications and tools libraries to the Google OS hardware, handheld phones and tablets / Chromebooks.

The move to turn Android into a desktop, with docks for phones to act as your mobile desktop and actual desktop, begs the question...

If now isn't the time for a full Linux OS merge of Android and ChromeOS, when is the time?

Don't let the MS Office release for Chrome OS distract your judgement, ChromeOS as it exists is a thin ghost of a real OS, and not worth the investment.

Just because schools are using Chromebooks as "laptops with training wheels" for kids doesn't mean those same adults need to follow through using Chromebooks after graduation, there are real computers out there for you.

 

That’s an unrealistic black-and-white worldview. A half-ton pickup is more useful than a midsize pickup, but a midsize pickup isn’t useless. A three-row SUV is more useful than a two-row SUV, but a two-row SUV isn’t useless.

On what planet are $1000 Chromebooks the “standard” just because the Pixelbook exists? The standard Chromebook is probably a $200 model.

So are you here to add meaningful conversation about Microsoft Office on Chrome OS, or are you just trying to troll ChromeOS users with a bunch of patronizing comments that have nothing to do with anything? Because candidly dude, you’re acting like a troll right now.

And again, if ChromeOS does everything a particular user needs, why should they spend triple the price for comparable hardware? Just to appease tech snobs about whether they’re using a “real” computer? Like I said, you’re not going to find a 12” 2400x1600 3:2 IPS display in a clamshell laptop for anything close to $350 with any other OS.

 

This just proves that you're neither as smart nor as clever as you like to think you are. Go away.

 

I have a nice Umbrella of Clear Thinking - so for me it's another Sunny Day, full of Hope and Optimism.

I'll leave the light on for you - in case you want to come in from the darkness and confusion surrounding you...

There are no Chromebooks here though, and no Chrome OS, it's the adult world where you no longer need training wheels on your computers.

You can leave your child's toys behind, we're waiting for you, whenever you are ready.

 

Google set's the standard, right?

So if Google is saying that the best Pixelbook for the masses is a $999 one, who are you to say differently?

Every Chromebook cheaper isn't the standard, it's sub-standard, according to Google.

I had an idea when the Chromebook idea first started, with Google putting out a laptop in "between" a phone and a full laptop OS, that Google was making a statement computer for education.

Google would provide the entré into computing for the young in school masses.

A bit like Apple with their impossibly limited UI on their phones and tablets, but actually more useful and more configurable.

And, of course the next step after an entré into computers, would be real computers, made available to those students upon graduation.

Now that Google has driven the price of Chromebooks up to $1000, and the price of phones has been driven up to $1000, into realm of the price for real computers, providing performance almost into the world of real computing.

That time is now, it's time Google took the next step.

(Android + Chrome OS) / Linux => Google GUI => "Shiny Metal Robot" computing for the next generation of adults, Google "Blender".

And, of course "Blender" should run Microsoft Office, after all MS Office is what make's a laptop OS, a real OS.

 

All you have is a hypothetical scenario of some corporations possibly filtering content when when in reality, other corporations that you're shilling for are currently engaging in this practice. Why would it be wrong for Comcast to prioritize and filter traffic when Google, Facebook, Twitter, and others are filtering people and content who express political opinions to the right of Stalin?

 

That's not remotely how halo products work. When Acura and Lexus sell two-seat sports cars with six-figure price tags, they're not saying that $40k family hauling four doors are substandard.

If you don't want a Chromebook, that's fine, don't buy one. But quit trolling random threads in the ChromeOS forum. I personally have no interest in Ubuntu but you don't see me posting demeaning, confrontational comments in an Ubuntu forum.

 

Halo products aren't the right category for Chromebooks.

Chromebooks were supposed to embody the desire for Netbooks for all, for education, for the low income groups needing computers around the world. Business use was supposed to help pay for them and lower the cost, not cause them to rise to ridiculous cost. $999 is ridiculous for what you are getting.

Chromebooks were supposed to limit costly extra's - including things like MS Office, and offer only the core required for education without the cost of bundling Windows. Linux was used as the base for free software to keep the price down.

I have had a long time interest in Android and Chrome OS moving toward a full implementation of Linux as the hardware would allow, and that's what I am conveying, not trolling, informing.

Perspective is often lost over time, the long term vision lost, and I think that's what is going on with Android and Chrome OS, and are straying off from and losing their full potential.

Strangely MS Office was a key release item for the 1st Chromebooks, and it's taken 6+ years to show up. I can't believe it's what Google have been waiting for before merging Chrome OS and Android, but if it is / was, then this is a key turning point toward the future. Let's not forget that future, and not stagnate making "expensive" inexpensive Chromebooks.

Otherwise, the MS Office inclusion in Chrome OS is just incredibly late to market, and still an odd add-on for an inexpensive laptop for education.

In the between times, I worry about Google mis-using their control over the environments they create, and the hidden motives behind creating them.

Spoiler: School Children's Privacy Concerns

Chromebook
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromebook

"In April 2017, the Electronic Frontier Foundation accused Google of using Chromebooks to collect and data mine "school children's personal information, including their Internet searches", without their parents' consent, two years after EFF filed a federal complaint against the company."

EFF Says Google Chromebooks Are Still Spying on Students
In the past two years since a formal complaint was made against Google, not much has changed in the way Google handle's this.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/eff-says-google-chromebooks-are-still-spying-on-students-515015.shtml
"Google still hasn't shed its "bad guy" clothes when it comes to the data it collects on underage students. In fact, the Electronic Frontier Foundation says the company continues to massively collect and store information on children without their consent or their parents'. Not even school administrators fully understand the extent of this operation, the EFF says. "

"This isn't the first time the EFF has had something to say against Google on this topic. In fact, two years ago, it even filed a federal complaint against the company, alleging that it was "collecting and data mining school children's personal information, including their Internet searches."

According to the latest status report from the EFF, Google is still up to no good, trying to eliminate students' privacy without their parent's notice or consent and "without a real choice to opt out." This, they say, is done via the Chromebooks Google is selling to schools across the United States.

"Educational technology services often collect far more information on kids than is necessary and store this information indefinitely," the EFF said."

Invasion of privacy and information gathering may be the real motivations behind Google getting inexpensive Chromebooks into the hands of school children.

But, what is the motivation for creating a $999 Chromebook? What kind of exploitation does that embody? Taking money from graduates, creating a Halo around Chromebooks that just doesn't fit?

Does finally getting MS Office into Chrome OS really justify $999 Chromebooks?

 

This isn't the right thread for that discussion, nor was where you originally posted it. I included your comments to show the mood you seem to be in, contravening every reasonable viewpoint on every subject.

It's an important topic though, so if you want to start a new thread to vent your disagreement with every thinking internet netizen, I'm sure it will draw interest.

 

Microsoft is flailing with Android app support on Chromebooks
[Update: The saga continues]
Something really strange is happening with Microsoft's Office Android apps on Chromebooks, and it isn't serving anyone well.
https://www.computerworld.com/artic...microsoft-office-android-apps-chromebook.html

"These days, Microsoft is supposedly all about services — about getting you to use and subscribe to its software, regardless of what platform you prefer.

That's why it's especially hard to understand the convoluted mess the company's creating with its Android Office apps and their wildly inconsistent support on Chromebooks.

Let me back up for a minute: Last week, I published a guide to the essential Android apps for Chromebooks. Google officially took the beta label off its Play Store on Chrome OS effort with the launch of its Pixelbook this month — a change visible not just on the Pixelbook but on any Chromebook with Play Store access — and that seemed like a fine time to assess which Android apps actually enhance the Chrome OS experience in a meaningful way.

Not surprisingly, several Microsoft titles made the list — ranging from the core Android Office apps to Outlook and OneNote. I tested them all on both the Pixelbook and the Asus Chromebook Flip C302CA, and they installed without issue and ran like a charm.

Then, after the story went live, weird things started happening."

Spoiler: Weirder...

"First, numerous readers reached out to tell me they were unable to install some or all of the Microsoft Android apps on their own Chromebook devices — fully Play-Store-supported systems like Samsung's Chromebook Pro and Plus, Google's second-gen Chromebook Pixel, and Acer's Chromebook 14 for Work. Some folks couldn't install any of the Microsoft apps, while others could install some of the titles but not others (with baffling combinations, too, like on the aforementioned Acer system — which apparently allows users to install Word, Excel, and Outlook but not PowerPoint or OneNote).

Then something even stranger happened: Someone told me they'd had the core Office apps installed and running on the Chromebook Flip C302CA, just as I did — but when they uninstalled one of the apps by mistake, they realized they couldn't reinstall it. The app was now flagged as being "incompatible" with their laptop.

S ince its launch this summer, the Chromebook Flip C302CA is suddenly and inexplicably now "incompatible" with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The Play Store won't even show them if you search from the device itself and won't let you install them if you try pulling them up from an external browser window."

" Digging deeper into Microsoft's Chromebook chaos
If all of this sounds oddly familiar, it should. As it turns out, similarly strange things started happening with Microsoft's Android Office apps and Chromebooks last November. Back then, a Microsoft spokesperson explained it thusly:

Our strategy has not changed. Office for Android is supported on Chrome OS devices via the Google Play Store. While 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.

Well, guess what? It's been a year. Google Play on Chrome OS is now out of beta. Yet the shenanigans continue.

Here's the most bewildering part of all: Having its Android Office apps broadly available across Chrome OS would ostensibly be a positive thing for Microsoft — something that'd fit perfectly into its current plan of pursuing service-oriented users across all platforms. The company has even configured its apps to be fully functional only for users with active Office 365 subscriptions on devices with 10.1-in. screens or bigger, which includes almost all Chromebooks.

So in other words, no one's getting any freebies. If anything, the apps' availability on Chrome OS would only serve as an extra incentive for people to subscribe — because such a subscription would bring the full native Office experience to a Chromebook device.

Spoiler: Not normal...

And lest you think this whole scenario is in any way normal, I've yet to encounter a single other Android app that has device-specific restrictions for Chromebook compatibility. In my experience, if an app works with Chrome OS — which most do, aside from titles that inherently require phone-specific hardware or environments to operate — then it works with any Play-Store-supporting Chromebook. This arbitrarily evolving mixed-bag approach is both unusual and illogical. It creates a poor and confusing experience for users and makes Microsoft look — well, I'll let you fill in that blank.

I asked Google if it had any insight into what was going on with this situation, since it was supposedly "partnering" with Microsoft to work on these apps during the Play Store beta period last year. A spokesperson sent me the following statement:

We want to ensure that customers have access to their favorite apps and games on all Chromebooks, through Google Play. We hope to continue to work with Microsoft to make Office available on all other Chromebooks soon.

"We hope." Hmm.

Spoiler: More+Post Thanksgiving update

I've contacted Microsoft and followed up multiple times throughout the week to try to get an explanation. If/when I receive any further info about what's happening or when it might be resolved, I'll update this page with details.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a desktop-caliber and Office-compatible editing suite for your Chromebook — beyond what's available in a web-based program like Google Docs or Microsoft's own limited Office Online offering — your best bet is to go with a third-party Android Office alternative like OfficeSuite Pro.

And if you are able to install Microsoft's Android Office apps on your Chromebook now, for the love of Goog, hang onto 'em. Avoid uninstalling the programs or resetting your device at all costs — because as Microsoft continues to remind us, it can't currently be counted on for consistency.

UPDATE (11/27/17): It appears someone flipped a switch over the Thanksgiving weekend, as numerous users are now reporting broader compatibility with Office Android apps across multiple Chromebook models. As I said on social media, though, it's hard to give much kudos here, given how drawn-out this process has been and how much silence and silliness has been involved. And despite the new progress, some Office apps still seem to be showing up as incompatibleon some devices, for no apparent reason.

But hey, some progress is better than no progress, right?!

 

Did you really just type "This isn't the right thread for that discussion" after posting pages of rants about the price of the Google PixelBook in a thread that's not about the Google PixelBook, but instead MS Office on ChromeOS?

 

No, you need to slow down and read for comprehension

Look at what I was replying to:

He was talking about Net Neutrality, not Pixelbooks or Chromebook's.

My comments were right on the mark, and not OT at all.

Net Neutrality is totally OT, not related, and shouldn't be discussed here, and I suggested he start a new thread as that would be a good discussion to have, especially since he is way off base from what most people want. He also has started discussing this as OT in another thread, so I wanted to head him off.

We are in a Google Chromebook discussion, Microsoft Android Apps delivering Microsoft Office apps on Chrome OS are in fact merging the two OS functionalities, and that begs the question in everyone's mind since Chrome OS was released, why 2 OS's?, and why not integrate both on a Full Linux OS, and actually compete with a full OS against MS and Apple.

Earn that $1000 unit price, otherwise what's the point of such a high cost?

Very much the important questions that fall out from adding Google Play support from Android integrating with Chrome OS, to deliver Microsoft Office apps.

You can argue as much as you like that they are not the same, but they are, and merging is what is already happening. In fact without merging Android apps into Chrome OS there would be no Microsoft Office applications available on Chrome OS.

Pricing is key to the merging question. Chromebooks were always supposed to be inexpensive laptops for education first, and that has been the major focus of the market.

Microsoft Office apps, full function requires $$$ and you will likely not see the primary and secondary school usage of Chromebooks use MS Office paid app services, it's too expensive. Price here is again important.

With the $999 priced Pixelbook heralding the availability of Microsoft Office apps through the Android Google Play Store, the cost has gone through the roof on Chromebooks, and that needs mentioning in parallel with the release of the Android Google Play MS Office apps.

And, now that the pricing has hit $1000 for Chromebooks and Android phones, it's the perfect time to talk about full merging of the OS's, and putting them on a real full OS, a full port of Linux.

I know these are complex interactions and concepts to see, so I don't blame you, but it's all related, all related news that comes out together at the same time through the same outlet, and needs to be discussed as such. Along with information on how the roll-out for Microsoft Office apps on the Android Google Play Store for Chrome OS is a bit rocky right now.

Instead of complaining, be helpful and post useful stuff, like me

 

Projection and a lack of self awareness are the main traits of the net neutrality shill.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Have you opened up a thread to discuss this, or are you planning on continuing to drop nasty OT comments about how Net Neutrality is a bad thing here and in the "Random Picture thread"?

 

Dear Google: Integrate Android and Chrome OS, or stop making $1,000 Chromebooks
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...e-os-or-stop-making-1-000-chromebooks.811234/

 

I had to laugh when I saw this article from today:

https://www.howtogeek.com/333922/chromebooks-are-more-than-just-a-browser/

 

We are both laughing at that article, but for completely opposite reasons

 

Indeed. If only Android/Chrome OS was half-way decent I'd probably be happier with Chromebooks.

 

It's so frustrating, I've been so close to so many transition points between a real OS and a GUI OS merging over the years.

With Apple being the closest - actually shipping A/UX and now MaxOS X - except Apple went with a non-UNIX / BSD / Linux micro-kernel and then lost the will to make / integrate updates from the UNIX side back into MaxOS X and so it just keeps getting older, and older, and older.

If Apple had gone completely UNIX compatible throughout and done what all good UNIX / Linux computer companies have done - stay current with the source - it could have been beautiful - and Apple instead of fighting against Enterprise hardware could have been a force in the Enterprise, as well as the desktop.

After Apple lost their Enterprise push, due to a poor OS choice and lack of currency in the OS with cutting edge developments, it's like Apple gave up on the desktop / workstation market.

All because they had to be "different" with their OS underpinnings.

Same will happen with Google if they kill compatibility with Linux source growth and end up in the same sad state.

That's why I want to see Google do it right for once, it would be nice to see it actually happen, who knows it could catch on and replace Windows.

MacOS users would probably plod on for a while, maybe Apple would even have a Linux + MacOS GUI push to match, wouldn't that be fun?

 

Just an update for anyone wondering how Office apps licensing works on chromebooks, this update direct from microsoft was recently posted:

source

 

Observations on Chrome OS, Android apps, and Google’s ecosystem

https://www.androidauthority.com/chrome-android-apps-observations-817885/

 

)
First, after reading this ridiculous volley of posts I need to tell you, Mitlov, that you have nailed it with this one! (PS, biased towards your "side" in this debate because, a) I am a huge laptop fanboy and have been for years and have only last week discovered Chromebooks by purchasing a Samsung Chromebook Pro on sale for $400 on BF. I have rarely reached for one of my 8 other laptops (flagships, all) since! For what they do - and that covers 80% of the time I spend on a laptop - this little "toy" is a joy to use and I am so much more productive on it than on any other device. Just as they are worthless for making toast, they are also useless for One Note in it's present Chromebook execution. That's why I still have a toaster and a Thinkpad X1.

That was my "a)" reason for fining your pov more compelling, Mitlov. The other is loyalty: I remember having debates with you going back to Sony Z machines 7 years ago. You were brilliant then and you still are! Good to run into you again, buddy.

@hmscott: you need to chill out. We're not talking about the meaning of life or even a truly critical aspect of the future of technology and its impact upon our lives. We're talking about appliances for doing things we did in entirely different ways before the mid-90s when the www was commercialized. Since then, the everyday tools we use to get things done in life have evolved to the point that hardware is so advanced and so cheap that you can get a lovely device for expeiencing 95% of what the Interenet has to offer (including email, messaging and, [sigh, dread] social media for $400. Samsung's Chromebook Pro is faster, smoother and has better display and inking capability than any of the $1,000 - $1,500 I've thrown away on overpowered Internet access appliances. As for the Pixelbook, I am about a week away from buying one because: 1) Android apps (particularly entertainment consumption ones) require local storage due in large part to flaws in the Chromebook software architecture that doesn't allow use of SD card storage for the apps themselves nor for local files I wish to store on what is becoming my main "technology companion" for all but the most application-software-intensive work I do, which at 65 and semi retired, I do less and less of, and the Pixelbook is the only Chromebook I'm aware of that offers 128GB+ of local SSD storage; 2) though I haven't come upon any gating uses, including 20+ open windows and 5+ Android apps, I anticipate that I will indeed hit a wall and I don't particularly wish to be encumbered in my use of this marvelous device for lack of RAM or cpu power, the likes of which I surpassed over 5 years ago on all my laptops. Translation: I want 8GB of RAM and at least a Kaby Lake 4.5 watt i5/i7 cpu so there is exactly one product that could possibly meet my needs: Pixelbook; and 3) while $1,000 may seem like a lot of money to spend on a gimped laptop that can't run software, since the kind of stuff I need to run is increasingly fully accomodated by this format and frankly, what I'm paying for is the cpu, SSD, RAM, WUXGA (eye-popping gorgeous) display and a supremely comfortable keyboard/trackpad/stylus input system (using a non-Pixel Wacom stylus) and If you took an ultrabook with the same quality hardware and deducted the cost of the Windows OS, hardware of this caliber would be fairly priced at, you guessed it, $1,000. Have you used the Pixelbook? We're talking class-leading look and feel, easily as nice as the best business class laptops I own, for $1.500 - $2,000.

Oh, one last thing. You might want to re-read the title of this thread. No one has really talked about using MS Office on Chromebooks. It sucks! It's so bad, I'm more likely to use Google apps to the extent that I have to view/review and occasionally design documents and spreadsheets. I'm sure MS will figure out that it's in their interest to let those of us who are paying for a full subscription to Office 365 for Windows to pay perhaps 15% more to be able to have one additional install - on a Chromebook. The hardware (especially that which I'm about to upgrade to) can easily handle it and I don't think MS will find it in their interests for millions of students to graduate high school without having touched a MS product.

Peace. Happy coding.

 

I liked the idea until I realized that the Android MS Office apps, like the iOS Android apps, can only have one document open at a time. That may be okay on a phone but it's a severe limitation on a clamshell laptop. I pretty much always have multiple MS Word documents open simultaneously.

Nice to run into you again too!

 

Likewise.

 

Thanks everyone for your support




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