Adding Chrome, Gmail, and other Google services to Windows 8
Summary: Microsoft and Google might be archrivals in business, but you don't have to get caught in the crossfire. Google is making excellent progress in its quest to add Windows 8 (Metro) support to Chrome. And Microsoft's flagship Windows 8 apps connect well with Gmail and other Google services. Here's how to get everything to work together.
A lot of people use Google services for their email, calendar, contacts, messaging, and more.
If you’re a Gmail diehard, you’ll be pleased to know that three of the four native Windows 8 communications apps have native support for your Google account, using Exchange ActiveSync to tie things together.
You only need connect your Google account once to integrate your email with the built-in Windows 8 Mail app. At the same time, you can connect your Google calendar and contacts to the Windows 8 Calendar and People apps.
The missing piece of the puzzle, you might have noticed, is the Windows 8 Messaging app, which doesn’t support Google’s Chat features (it’s compatible with Windows Messenger and Facebook messaging).
So why bother? I mean, most Gmail users are accustomed to opening Chrome and checking their mail, so why use a local app? In the case of the Windows 8 apps, there are two very good reasons:
After connecting your Google account to Windows 8, new messages and upcoming calendar events show up in the live tiles on the Start screen. (You can get there with a tap of the Windows key.) That allows you to both check for new mail and see your schedule without having to open an app or a web page.
In addition, you can use the built in Share charm to send content from the Metro-style Chrome browser (or any Windows 8 app) to Mail, with no copying and pasting or context switching required. There’s a keyboard shortcut to make it easier: Windows key + H.
Because the Google Account connection uses Exchange ActiveSync, any changes you make in the web-based interface are reflected immediately in the Windows 8 apps. I added a contact in Gmail using Chrome and watched as it appeared almost immediately in the People app. Similarly, an appointment I entered in the Windows 8 Calendar was reflected in the Google Calendar on the web within seconds.
As for other Google services, support is hit or miss. If you use Google Reader for RSS feeds, for example, you can take your choice of multiple Windows 8 apps that allow you to download and sync your RSS feeds. (I use Feed Reader, a $2.99 app that has been very effective.)
On the other hand, you won’t find any Google+ apps in the Windows Store yet. That shouldn’t be surprising, considering that Google has yet to open up the API for its social network. Eventually, one can expect multiple clients—maybe even one from Google itself.
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Talkback
"Windows 8 Mode"...
I don't know why but what's the diff?
Also, I believe it's context-sensitive as such that menu item won't appear in the Modern mode.
The naming is just awful.
It also saddens me that the Metro design language seems lost on Google. C"mon guys....
Technically its not called "Metro Mode"
Microsoft themselves now call it "Windows 8 Mode" because they legally can not call it Metro Mode.
But lets blame Google for calling it by its real name.
Please research your claim before posting it.
SECURITY ALERT: Microsoft releases critical updates for IE flaws Topic: Sof
SECURITY ALERT: Microsoft releases critical updates for IE flaws Topic: Sof
“Co-opetition” = “Beginning Of The End”
“Co-opetition” was the word used by Borland back in the early 1990s, when they gave up trying to compete with Microsoft and just decided to live with it. Guess what happened to Borland after that?
If Microsoft has given up trying to compete with Google, and has decided just to live with it, guess what’s going to happen to Microsoft...
Seriously...
Re: Seriously...
How so?
Re: How so?
“Co-opetition” was the word used by Borland back in the early 1990s, when they gave up trying to compete with Microsoft and just decided to live with it. Guess what happened to Borland after that?
If Microsoft has given up trying to compete with Google, and has decided just to live with it, guess what’s going to happen to Microsoft...
Cutting and pasting the same argument over and over...
Ed used the "co-opetition" word to describe this, not Microsoft. And Borland's need to compete with Microsoft on application development is quite different than Chrome being able to be run with an Metro interface.
Most of what I've seen in the article points to Google building Windows 8 style applications, using tools available to any developers in the Windows 8 toolchest. This hardly appears to be a Borland-like "give up trying to compete" move on Microsoft's part.
What is interesting, on the flip side, is that this allows users to continue to use Google's services without being exposed to ads on those services. If anything, this is a detriment to Google, not a help.
Re: This hardly appears to be a Borland-like "give up trying to compete" mo
“Co-opetition” was the word used by Borland back in the early 1990s, when they gave up trying to compete with Microsoft and just decided to live with it. Guess what happened to Borland after that?
If Microsoft has given up trying to compete with Google, and has decided just to live with it, guess what’s going to happen to Microsoft...
and at that time
Not all their products were that good ....
I can atest to that
I would keep my PC google free.
+1
Agreed.
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