14 DAY TRIAL // Google is bringing the Office document support from Chrome OS to Chrome proper. It has now released an extension for Chrome which should enable users to view Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint presentations and so on.
"Should enable," because it doesn't actually work for most people. But if and when it works, the extension should work pretty much like the PDF viewer that's already built into Chrome.
There are already several ways of viewing Office documents without actually having Office installed.
But the Chrome extension is probably the most solid. While Google doesn't say it, the extension is most likely built on top QuickOffice technology.
The Chrome Office Viewer is only available in Chrome Beta (and anything newer than that) and is in beta as well.
Those without Office already have the ability to view documents online, via Google Drive, or convert them to native Google Docs documents. But neither of them handles Microsoft documents very well.
QuickOffice's main selling point was the much greater compatibility, that same compatibility translates to the Chrome extension.
That said, Microsoft itself offers free Office viewers which, quite obviously, bring a much greater compatibility than anything Google can put together. But there aren't any official Microsoft Chrome extensions.
But there are a couple of advantages to using the Chrome extension. For one, it's sandboxed and isolated from the browser and the rest of the system. This should make opening documents found online or even in email attachments somewhat safer.
Google is very focused on taking on Microsoft in the office space. While its Apps offering, which includes Drive and Docs, isn't on par with Office in many aspects, it also has plenty of advantages, mostly in the form of collaboration and always available files.
That said, Microsoft's closing the gap with its own suite of online office apps. Still, the more people Google can convince that Docs is good enough and the less people need any of Microsoft's tools, the more it will eat away at Microsoft's main cash cow, which is Office.