On Tuesday, Google announced a new Gmail feature that enables non-Google files as attachments to be converted to Drive-friendly files, reports Engadget.

Gmail users can open a Microsoft Office attachment, click on a button placed next to the download or save to Google Drive button and begin editing. The Office attachment is converted in Drive and saved as a Google document format.

"With just one click on the new edit icon in Gmail attachments, you can automatically convert Office documents -- giving you the additional benefits of a single document to keep track of, access from anywhere (even offline!), and revision history," Google Drive stated on a Google Plus post.

Venture Beat reports Google Drive also offers conversion support for importing 15 new Office formats, including PowerPoint Show or other presentation show files, template files and macro-enabled files. Here's the complete list:

  • dot, dotx, dotm*, docm* can be converted to Google Docs
  • pot, potx, potm*, pptm*, pps, ppsx, ppsm* can be converted to Google Slides
  •  xlt, xltx, xltm*, xlsm* can be converted to Google Sheets

Google states on the conversion support page, "we've also added better conversion support for charts, SmartArt, and merged table cells in your Office documents."

Microsoft offers cloud accessibility for documents with revision history in its Office Online offering; however, not from within Gmail. Google Drive has made that possible.

Tuesday's announcement shows how Google strategically bundles its services together to lure users away from competitors. If you use Google's other services, it doesn't make sense to continue using Microsoft Office and Dropbox, or Microsoft Office and OneDrive.

Microsoft has a similar strategy to integrate Outlook, OneDrive and Office Online. In early October, Microsoft announced users can send files using the Outlook Web App as a OneDrive for Business link, regardless if the files are on your computer or in your cloud drive.