Recently, Microsoft’s Online applications have come to the rescue. I’ve learned that I can edit Word documents on my Linux OS without needing Wine or a Windows VM. I don’t have the full feature set, but it’s close enough for basic editing. One big issue that I have is that I can’t create Styles. I’m not sure that I can adjust tab stops either.
So, when I ran across the Chrome store apps for Office Online, I was excited. Maybe Microsoft is showing Linux, or at least Web-based users a little more attention?
Here are the links to the Apps in the Chrome Web Store:
Unfortunately, these apps didn’t help me much. Anytime I click on one of the apps, it requests my email address. Then, it takes me to an Outlook page. I’m not sure if it is because I am using my company account which is has a Sharepoint corporate account associated.
I was hoping that these apps might help me with some major bugs that I have been experiencing. First, in Word documents, Chrome deletes my selection when I press Ctrl + C. If I try to right click and ask it to copy, I just get a message saying the browser doesn’t have access to the clipboard. Second, in Excel, Chrome seems to get in this mode where it deletes the contents of cells when I navigate to them with the arrows on the keyboard.
Both of those are serious issues, so I have taken to using Firefox for the time being. At least this shows that Chrome is on the radar for supporting the online applications.
Resources
OMG Chrome: Microsoft Brings Office Online Apps to Chrome Web Store