Parallels just announced dedicated software for corporate Chromebooks that will allow customers to run Windows applications on Chrome OS.
With this release, almost any application that needs to run on Windows can now be used on Chromebooks, including not only applications like Microsoft Edge, but also the Office productivity suite.
And as far as the enterprise market is concerned, there is no question that the complete Microsoft Office suite for Chromebooks is a major win for Google and its customers.
Running Windows apps on a Chromebook is possible without an Internet connection and side-by-side with Chrome OS apps.
“Run Microsoft Office and other full-featured Windows applications directly on your corporate Chromebook. Easily add chart trendlines in Excel, signatures and quotes in Word, and custom fonts or headers and footers in PowerPoint – capabilities not available in other versions of Microsoft Office – while running Chrome OS applications. No need to reboot or use unstable emulators, “says Microsoft.
One month trial available
At the same time, integrations between the two operating systems are provided to customers, including a shared clipboard and support for configuring Windows apps to open files in Chrome OS. More importantly, Parallels allows you to use a shared user profile in Chrome OS.
“Windows custom folders (desktop, documents, and downloads) are redirected to the Windows files section in Chrome OS to ensure that files can be accessed by Chrome OS applications without duplication. It also allows Chrome OS to access these files when Windows is not running. ”, – explains the company.
Parallels Desktop for Chromebook Enterprise is available today for businesses looking to enable Windows applications on Chrome OS. It is a fairly expensive product, however, as it can be purchased with a $ 69.99 per year subscription for each user. The one month trial is offered with five user licenses.