Microsoft's rollout of its Office Suite, including Word, Excel and Powerpoint, has been slow and tied to flagships like Google's own Pixelbook. No more.
It appears that Office is now rolling out to Chromebooks widely in the Play Store, including the Samsung Chromebook Pro, Pixelbook and Acer's Chromebook 15 and C771, Chrome Unboxed reports.
These apps are the Android version of Office, which are fairly full-featured, though those who use desktop versions might have a bit of adjusting to do. For those who have avoided Chromebooks because Google Drive was the best or only option, this is a big addition.
Of course, you'll need a subscription to Office 365. Schools, where Chromebooks are already immensely popular, may already have subscriptions, and it's free on devices with 10.1-inch displays or less. But the majority of Chromebook owners will want a personal subscription that includes a PC or Mac, a tablet and a phone for $69.99 per year (it's unclear what a Chromebook will be classified as).
Microsoft has been working on its own cheap, secure devices running Windows 10 S, which limits users to programs from the Microsoft Store. But having its apps on Chromebooks makes sure it can get a slice of the pie even with Google's laptop OS continuing to grow rapidly.
