You might despise Copilot, but Google thinks Microsoft’s AI is a valuable productivity tool, so much so that they added the latest Copilot logo to the dedicated page for their new Googlebook line of laptops.
Although Google announced Googlebook in May 2026, pre-orders opened September 21, 2026, with five machines from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Prices run from $899 to $1,299, which is where the vast majority of Windows PCs are sold.
It’s a new laptop category with a desktop experience from ChromeOS, powered by Android, so users can have a full desktop Chrome browser, web apps, and some Linux tools, while also having the ability to run native Android apps. Now, guess the competitor as large as Google, who also has well-designed Android apps: Yes, Microsoft.
Google’s pitch includes continuity with Android phones. Pick up tasks where you left off, access phone files, use phone apps from the laptop, some of which Windows already supports. So, when the folks at Mountain View say it is a “premium laptop built for how people actually work and create”, do they think Copilot and Microsoft 365 are apps people use for work?
Probably yes, which is why the main web page for Googlebook features both Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft 365, as first spotted by Windows Latest.
Google says “millions of apps,” and somehow Microsoft Copilot is one of them
The Googlebook landing page has an Apps & Games section split into four curated groups: Best of Google, Creativity, Streaming, and Productivity. It was almost comical to me when I first saw Microsoft Copilot in the Productivity row among Notion, Notability, Adobe Acrobat, Dropbox, and Fantastical, all of which are powerful apps indeed.
On Googlebook page, with their newly announced OS and hardware lineup, Google chose a handful of apps to represent the whole experience, and Microsoft Copilot made that shortlist, and that too with the newly announced logo.
Even more amusing is that Microsoft has spent this year scaling back Copilot in places where it doesn’t deliver, pulling the branding out of Notepad, Snipping Tool, and other corners of Windows 11 after nonstop backlash. Even the Copilot key seems to be redundant now.
Copilot is still one of the most mocked parts of Microsoft’s consumer strategy among Windows enthusiasts. Microsoft’s own numbers say otherwise where it counts financially, though. The company said in July that Microsoft 365 Copilot had passed 30 million paid seats, up from 20 million a quarter earlier, with weekly engagement now matching Outlook and Teams.
And just like that, in the section that says “Get access to millions of your favourite apps and tools through the Google Play Store.”, Google showcases the Microsoft 365 logo.
On a lighter note, Google might be confused about which logo to show here since the Microsoft 365 Android app now doesn’t exist and instead we need to download separate apps like Word and Excel, which I actually like.
Google’s inclusion makes more sense once you consider who Googlebook is built for. Microsoft 365 dominates professional productivity, and Google itself says Googlebook users can “open, edit, download, and save Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint files on your Googlebook using the Microsoft 365 app”, on the frequently asked questions page for the product.
Microsoft may not have anything to worry about for now, especially if users continue to use Copilot and Microsoft 365 Android apps, but they mustn’t forget what happened to Windows Phone.
Google once made Windows users fight for YouTube, so seeing Microsoft products here is a little ironic
Google’s relationship with Microsoft’s mobile platforms was famously difficult. In May 2013, Google sent Microsoft a cease-and-desist letter demanding it pull its YouTube app from the Windows Phone Store, arguing the app violated YouTube’s terms by blocking ads and allowing downloads.
Microsoft rebuilt the app, and Google blocked it again in August 2013, saying it still fell short of a fully featured YouTube experience built on HTML5. To me, this sent the signal to developers that it was okay to not make the effort to put their apps in the Windows Phone Store. Think about it; who will buy a phone that doesn’t even have a YouTube app? Plot twist: I did, multiple times, and I made some of my friends and relatives buy into the Windows Phone world!
Despite this aversion from Google, Microsoft took a different approach with Android. Satya Nadella’s Microsoft embraced a “mobile-first, cloud-first” strategy, and at Build 2016 he explained that mobile-first was about “the mobility of the human experience across all the devices and all the computing in our lives,” not favoring one device.
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint became generally available on Android in 2015, and Microsoft has maintained a substantial Android presence ever since, even as individual apps like Microsoft Lens eventually got retired.
Google is now doing something very different. Its new laptop platform is openly showing Microsoft’s productivity software as part of the pitch. Of course, this isn’t the first time a direct competitor promotes a Microsoft product on their page. Back in March, Apple promoted the Microsoft Office suite on the MacBook Neo landing page to win over budget-conscious users switching from Windows.
On September 10, Google also launched the Gemini desktop app for Windows, with Alt+Space access (which belongs to Copilot by default on some PCs) and Google Workspace integration. A year ago, we tested the Google app for Windows, and it was surprisingly good.
In a rare move, Google is bringing native Windows 11 and WSL support to its AI tools like Antigravity. In a nutshell, Google is building a laptop meant to peel Android users away from Windows and macOS while also putting its own AI tools on Windows and acknowledging Microsoft’s software on Googlebook’s marketing page.
The platform wars have changed. The apps won. Or should I say AI?
