Chromebooks finally get a free version of Microsoft Office

You can now use what’s effectively a freebie version of Microsoft Office on a Chromebook – or at least one of Google’s Chrome OS-powered notebooks which will run Android apps.

Yes, after a long wait, the Office Android apps have arrived for such Chromebooks, the software being available to download from the Google Play store for every Chromebook out there.

So Chrome Unboxed reports, having tested the Office apps across a number of different Chromebooks, and also taking into account widespread reports across the net. Note that Microsoft hasn’t made an official announcement about this.

Rocky road

This has been a rocky road ever since compatibility with Android apps was brought to the first Chromebooks, because while Microsoft promised that the productivity suite would be available across all these notebooks, previously it has only showed up for a small number of models.

But any frustration users have experienced has now come to an end, and the full arrival of Microsoft Office Android apps will certainly be welcomed by many.

Even those who aren’t that bothered about Office, and are happy with G Suite (Google’s online productivity suite) anyway, may still find the apps useful when it comes to compatibility with the occasional Office file they’re sent.

Another thing Chromebook users can look forward to is Google Assistant arriving on the notebooks.