Notebookcheck Logo

Microsoft Office can run on Chromebooks via CrossOver

MS Office 2013 running on an Asus Chromebook Flip C100. (Source: CodeWeavers)
MS Office 2013 running on an Asus Chromebook Flip C100. (Source: CodeWeavers)
Using CrossOver Android, James Ramey (president of CodeWeavers) was able to run MS Word 2013 on his Asus Chromebook Flip C100. The group plans to have a preview of the software released before the end of the month.

We wrote a few months ago about CodeWeavers, a small organization focused on building compatibility layers that allow apps to be run across platforms. The group claimed to be working on bringing Windows applications to Chromebooks through software. In a blog post released today, CodeWeavers president James Ramey showed off Microsoft Word running on his Asus Chromebook Flip C100.

While the software shows promise, it’s far from a final release. Ramey said that there were “still many, many, many bugs to polish out of the code” and “functionality to be added.” However, he said that CrossOver is “showing considerable promise and steady improvement.”

It looks like MS Office may be able to run on Chromebooks that are compatible with Android apps, as Ramey used CrossOver Android to accomplish the cross-platform feat. Not all Chromebooks will be compatible with CrossOver once it's released for public use, but Google has stated that all future Chromebooks will be compatible with Android apps.

Ramey stated that CodeWeavers will be releasing a preview version of CrossOver Android “before the end of the month.” The preview will bring “support for many more applications (including Microsoft Office 2013) and better support for a larger handful of games.” Ramey is excited about the future of cross-platform software such as CrossOver. He believes it is the next revolution in computing. Time will tell if he’s right about this, but compatibility and cross-platform software like CrossOver and Wine are certainly trying to shake up the industry by allowing consumers a completely open choice of operating system.

Source(s)

+ Show Press Release
static version load dynamic
Loading Comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
Sam Medley, 2017-03-28 (Update: 2017-03-28)