There are several ways to show common Word, Excel, and PowerPoint file formats in Chrome, the most elegant being the Document viewing App that is offered via the Chrome Web Store.
There is now word that this app will be integrated into Google's Gmail service "soon".
François Beaufort is typically well-informed, so I would put this information closer to an actual product than pure rumor. Beaufort said that Google's Chrome developers are working on an integration of the Document viewing app directly into Gmail. If you are not using Microsoft Office on your computer, a simple and lean implementation of this app would surely make the life of Gmail users much easier.
If Beaufort is right, Google could simply be leveraging an existing extension for Chrome that can be tied to the Gmail service as a another example how Google is suggesting its users to switch to Chrome.
In its current version, the Document viewer supports the formats doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, and .pptx.
Wolfgang Gruener is an experienced professional in digital strategy and content, specializing in web strategy, content architecture, user experience, and applying AI in content operations within the insurtech industry. His previous roles include Director, Digital Strategy and Content Experience at American Eagle, Managing Editor at TG Daily, and contributing to publications like Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware.
Interesting but how many people don't actually have MS Office or some alternative such as OpenOffice installed on their computer? Especially GMail users. I'd think most of the people without any Office product would be the very illiterate still using AOL or just whatever address was assigned to them by their ISP.
velocityg4Interesting but how many people don't actually have MS Office or some alternative such as OpenOffice installed on their computer? Especially GMail users. I'd think most of the people without any Office product would be the very illiterate still using AOL or just whatever address was assigned to them by their ISP.I don't. I have it at work, but don't need it at home very often. On the rare occasions that I do find the need to use part of an office suite, I typically use Google Docs, assuming I don't care if the world knows about it. If I need it for something sensitive, it is fairly easy to install another product. But so far it's been about 1.5 years since the last install, and I haven't had need for it.
