Acer unveils new Chromebooks, Google's next business offensive.

(Reuters)- Acer will unveil its first line of high-end laptops running Google's Chrome OS on Wednesday, an executive told Reuters, with the manufacturer helping Google in its effort to win over enterprise customers.

Chromebooks are known for running cloud-based applications and storing data online. Simple, inexpensive, and with long battery life, they have become a popular option for students and children.

Devices made by Acer, HP, Dell, and others, including Google itself, have captured nearly 60 percent of the U.S. school grid market for children aged seven and older.

Acer's new machines are part of the latest step in Google's long-term strategy to conquer the lucrative business market, where personal computers running the Windows operating system still account for 90 percent of the market.

Google is pushing Chromebooks because they help attract customers to its cloud computing services and G Suite software suite—a rival to Microsoft Office—both of which are fundamental to the company's efforts to diversify revenue.

Chromebooks' difficulty in running complex applications has limited their appeal to businesses, but that could change.

Google has increased the capabilities of its software and boosted the number of its authorized sales partners by 25 percent in the last year in an attempt to persuade business users that Chromebooks can handle more complex tasks.

Last year, more Chromebooks began to support Google's Android apps, which offer offline functionality and allow businesses to make specialized software more accessible. Now, double-sided printing works, although secure printing with ID badge scanning and multi-page printing on one page are still under development.