Google Drive Now Lets You Annotate MS Office Documents
The latest update to Collaboration Tools in Google Drive now means you can annotate files created in Microsoft Office just like you can in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, without opening third-party apps.
Prior to this update, Google users who wanted to modify Microsoft Office documents in any way had to either convert the file, use a third-party application, or work in Office compatibility mode . Now, with commenting support, any suggestions you leave in this Word document or Powerpoint presentation, or tags that mention people participating in the editing process, will appear in the same document when it opens in Office 365.
Google’s changes make it easier to comment and fix issues before editing, although actually editing or otherwise permanently modifying the Office Suite files you’re working on still requires the aforementioned workarounds. But if you’re writing something that just needs a second glance, or viewing a contract or agreement between you and a customer, Google Drive’s easy-to-use suggestions take the software suite one step closer to seamlessly interacting with Microsoft Office.