Digital Skills IGO Forum - Recent Posts

RE: Office Software for Chromebooks

Phil Bass — Sat, 23 May 2026 07:39:46 +0000

@keithjeremiah Yes, that was my thought, too. But you shouldn't need Google Drive and an Internet connection just to use files on your local machine. And you don't want to be tied in to Google products any more than you have to. Microsoft and Apple users won't want documents in Google formats and having to export your Google files to something more portable is a nuisance.

RE: Office Software for Chromebooks

Keith Jeremiah — Sat, 23 May 2026 06:27:44 +0000

I think the presumption is that Chromebook users would use the word processing, spreadsheet etc on Google drive - which can also read and display Microsoft office and other formats.

Linux VMs on Chromebooks

Phil Bass — Thu, 21 May 2026 21:04:41 +0000

It’s possible to install a native virtual machine manager on ChromeOS, but you have to enable it in the settings (Settings > Advanced > Developers > Linux development environment). This allows you to run Linux in virtual machines on a Chromebook.

A Google search for “virtual machine on chromebook” came up with the details for me.

I don't have a Chromebook, so haven't been able to try it.

Office Software for Chromebooks

Phil Bass — Thu, 21 May 2026 20:53:49 +0000

It seems that LibreOffice is not available for Chromebooks, but you can get Collabora Office from the Google Play Store.

As I understand it, Collabora Office is a version of LibreOffice intended to support collaborative work. It was originally developed by Collabora Ltd. in close cooperation with The Document Foundation, which maintains LibreOffice. Unfortunately, those two organisations seem to have fallen out and are no longer talking to each other.

RE: New member

Anthony Steele — Mon, 04 May 2026 20:10:54 +0000

Welcome to the group. I hope that you enjoy it_

we all learn something from the other members from time to time and I’m sure there will be times when you are able to also contribute

welcome and best wishes

Tony Steele

New member

Harsh Batra — Mon, 04 May 2026 13:11:01 +0000

Hi everyone,

Despite using the computer over the last 20 years or so, my skills remain basic at best. I'm hoping to pick up tips and information from this group to help me get more out of the digital tools available. At the same time, I hope I can contribute to the group by discussing my own experience with these tools...