
Microsoft Offers Office Online apps via Chrome Web Store - petrel
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9247681/Microsoft_concedes_Chromebooks_are_work_worthy?taxonomyId=89
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candybar
This is Microsoft realizing that Windows desktop monopoly, while mighty,
doesn't necessarily translate to other markets, especially cloud services, all
that well because the monopoly is based on compatibility and compatibility
means leaving those holes that allow for third-parties to hijack the platform
to deliver their services. Also in a world that kept needing new desktop
operating systems, OS monopoly was far more valuable than app monopoly but in
a world where a 10-year old operating system is hard to kill, app monopoly is
more important, because OS has already been commoditized.

In this sense, their Office monopoly, which is not as reliant on third-party
add-ins or platform openness, and is far more based on product superiority, is
more important for them to preserve. Office gives them a strong chance at
dominance in business cloud services. Since they are far ahead of competitors
at this point, they want to win it as quickly as possible before competitors
catch up. This has nothing to do with Microsoft conceding anything - it's
simply that Office is far too important to be tied to Windows.

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MAGZine
Actually a pretty impressive about-face from Microsoft. I know some people are
all-too-ready to see the demise of Microsoft, but I'm glad to see them try
their best to be nimble. The more they fight for eyeballs, the more we win.

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djim
how is this nimble? the chrome web store has been around for years and so has
office online. this is microsoft being forced to compete on ground they don't
want to compete on. you see how by listing their apps on this web store, they
have validated chrome os as a platform? whereas google still refuses to
release native apps for microsoft's mobile platform, and that certainly hasn't
helped microsoft. this is microsoft losing.

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cheez
This guy has never released software.

~~~
ditojim
ah but i have. and these are web apps. deploying them on the chrome web store
is a cinch.

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dublinben
Chromebooks (with either Google Drive or Office Online) are as work-worthy as
Windows RT devices. Both are perfectly capable if your work only entails
answering emails, browsing the web, and light word processing. If you need to
do anything that isn't possible in a web-app, you'll quickly find yourself
turning to a different device.

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pook1e
For developers, installing Crouton turns the Chromebook into a fantastic
portable machine. My Acer c720 has been able to handle everything I've thrown
at it, and generally lasts a full day (10-12 hours) between charges.

~~~
dTal
I keep seeing this meme, and it persuaded me to buy a Samsung Chromebook,
specifically with the intent of putting Linux on it.

It's awful. Forget about accelerated graphics from that nice chip - the
drivers are proprietary. Oh, and so are the DSP drivers, so no HD decoding.
Enjoy pressing Ctl-D every boot; don't mis-type or you'll wipe the drive. The
keyboard lacks essentials such as "home", "end", and "delete". The Crouton OS
and ChromeOS get into fights sometimes. HDMI is a crapshoot. I never did get
VLC to stream the webcam. The finish is about as durable as whitewash. And so
on.

If you're a developer reading this thread and considering buying a Chromebook
because it looks like a nice machine for the price, PLEASE don't. Do yourself
a favor and buy a used thin 'n' light business-class laptop from 2006-8.
You'll take a medium hit on battery life and weight, but you will get a
comfortable, well-designed, durable, powerful machine for your money.

~~~
DennisP
I use mine to take notes and do a little programming at the command line. I
use vim so I don't need those "keyboard essentials." I'm doing nothing with
graphics or video. I'm writing text and code.

That stuff is what "work" means to me, so my (Acer) chromebook is a pretty
decent work machine. For bigger stuff I break out the 17" System76 but for
travel I take the chromebook.

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pasbesoin
The "real" title is the subtitle:

 _Offers Office Online apps via Chrome Web Store to Chrome and Chrome OS_

With the further qualification:

 _The move was largely symbolic: The Office Online apps have long been able to
run within virtually any browser, including Chrome, the foundation of Chrome
OS.

But by packaging the apps in .crx format and submitting them to the automated
review run by Google, and thus publishing them to the Chrome Web Store,
Microsoft put its Office Online in front of Chrome and Chrome OS users and in
a place they've been trained to look for Web apps._

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mwfunk
While getting Office listed in the Chrome app store is a refreshing thing for
MS to do, it seems like quite a stretch to conclude that MS has conceded
anything, or that this is related to how MS perceives Chromebooks. If
anything, this kind of press might make MS less likely to do things like this
in the future, which sucks.

~~~
dragonwriter
> it seems like quite a stretch to conclude that MS has conceded anything

I think its fair to conclude that Microsoft has conceded something -- but not
necessarily about Chromebooks' "worthiness", per se.

I think its fair to conclude that Microsoft has conceded that tieing the rest
of the company to live and die based on the strength of the Windows OS and
brand isn't good long-term strategy -- and this is just one of many signs
(rebranding Azure from "Windows Azure" to "Microsoft Azure" is another.)

~~~
mwfunk
Very good point. New Microsoft (assuming there is a new Microsoft) seems like
it's remembering to be a software company and not just a Windows company. I
really like this approach and hope they keep at it.

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azakai
The headline is pure linkbait. The Chrome Web Store is not a ChromeOS store,
it is for Chrome on all platforms. I would bet that most people using the CWS
use it on Chrome on a desktop machine, not on ChromeOS.

~~~
dang
Yes. I rewrote it to use the less baity subtitle.

The HN guidelines call for not rewriting titles _except_ when they are
misleading or linkbait.

Edit: the article is pretty lame too. Is this a significant announcement? If
it is, can someone suggest a better url? If it isn't, we may tag it as fluff.

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ewoodrich
I wouldn't really say it's a significant announcement. It takes up about two
sentences at the end of Microsoft's announcement of new Office Online
features:

[http://blogs.office.com/2014/04/14/more-office-online-
commen...](http://blogs.office.com/2014/04/14/more-office-online-commenting-
printing-tell-me-and-more/)

~~~
dang
Ok. We tagged it as fluff. This is a penalty assigned to articles that aren't
intellectually substantive. Usually we apply it to obviously sensational
pieces. The current one is a borderline case, so I'll take the penalty off if
more people object.

The tech press is good at camouflaging fluff, though, and this is one thing
dragging down the quality of the front page. I believe a solution may be for
HN to focus more on primary sources. We're going to be asking the community
for help with this.

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therobot24
I posted this earlier, but it's relevant for a repost.

My brother got a chrome pixel at Google I/O and he loves it. The hardware is
beautiful. The interface is simple. The speed and ease of use is really
unparalleled. The downside is by far the most important - the functionality is
very limited due to the limited App space.

~~~
MAGZine
The hardware of the pixel looks great. If Windows had a proper touchscreen
driver, I'd probably buy one and load it up with Windows (or, if I could get
OSX running on it...)

~~~
ufmace
I thought about it a while ago, but then why not just buy a Macbook? Same
price, comparable hardware looks, much better specs, much better capabilities.
You can run Chrome and do all the same stuff you could do on a Chomebook, plus
a ton of other stuff too.

~~~
lmm
If you can find a Macbook with the same specs for anything close to the price
of the Chromebook then please do link it.

~~~
danieldk
The posts above you are talking about the Chromebook Pixel, which had a
release price of $1299 (similar to MacBooks) but inferior specs.

~~~
MAGZine
The pixel is very similar to a Macbook Air, (IIRC, thiner/lighter) except has
a HD-touch screen. If they refreshed the processor, all that would be missing
is a decent harddrive.

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bmoresbest55
It's wonderful to see everyone playing so nicely these days. Even if it is
only on the surface...

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igravious
I can't seem to get this to install/load/whatever_the_jargon_is in the Chrome
Web Store tied to a Google Apps (for domains) account. Anybody have any idea
what magic incantation I need to mutter/mutter/invoke?

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frik
Similar to ChromeOS, a Firefox OS release for notebooks would be great.

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qat
Has anyone tried it?

