Microsoft Office Gets Official Google Drive Plug-In
It’s no secret that Google and Microsoft are two tech giants, who do not like each other when it comes to their products. Various items including a YouTube app for Windows Phone have separated the companies, but office suite products make them alike. Now, a Google Drive for Microsoft Office has arrived.
Users who use Microsoft Office use a variety of cloud services generally, and Google Drive has a system and operating system for their users as well. With this plug-in though, Microsoft Office users can get access to Google Drive files, without leaving Office, and giving them another cloud service to use.
Google’s Open Approach
Users with this Google Drive platform, get to take advantage of Google’s “Open Approach”, and gives users ways to access Google Drive files in Microsoft Office. Users can access files, make changes, and then save them back to Google Drive from within the office apps. This makes it much easier than before.
The plugin allows for usage with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Users are able to keep all their files in the Google Drive ecosystem, but access them and review/edit them with Microsoft Office. This detracts away from their own line of Office products, and forms a pact between the two giants.
Office and Google Drive Together?
In a very carefully worded statement, a Google official stated that users will be able to use apps they are familar with, and benefit from the security and convenience of Google Drive. They are simply providing another option for users to utilize, and wants users to still save the files in Google Drive.
Microsoft has its own OneDrive service, and lets users open and edit files from Dropbox and Box as of now. This latest addition of Google Drive will only benefit users, and give them more ways to access their files. It’s a good thing for consumers, and forms some good karma between Google and Microsoft.
Users can grab the plugin starting today. If you use both, you can start using it today.