4 ms·

And the only way to build market share is through cannibalization of windows licenses. Not in microsoft's interest. If you hae a proper office for windows, I be

by cm2187 8y ago

And the only way to build market share is through cannibalization of windows licenses. Not in microsoft's interest. If you hae a proper office for windows, I bet many companies would consider seriously switching to Linux.

scarface74 8y ago
Office has been available for Mac for well over two decades. There are so many more reasons for companies preferring Windows on the desktop than just Office.
- cm2187 8y ago
  I think there were so may more reasons. But what I see is all internal apps moving to be web based. 5 more years and Office is really going to be the last thing tying up corporates to Windows.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
    Call me when Linux has anything that works as well as AD.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      You just need a server running AD. Third party and browser SSO with AD is a solved problem.
    - yellowapple 8y ago
      It does; it's called AD. :) The actual problem is the lack of Group Policy support (or even a viable equivalent - preferably one that's cross-platform).
    - merb 8y ago
      FreeIPA?!
  - scarface74 8y ago
    Linux as it exists today on the desktop is still a headache. If anything, if office were ported to Chrome OS, that would be a real alternative.
    - tracker1 8y ago
      o365's web interface is pretty much what you're asking for. It's a rent based model, but so are the desktop apps at this point (mostly). It wouldn't really surprise me to see an electron wrapper around o365 UI for a future release to unify the applications more. The only part of "Office" I really even use though is Outlook (at work), and it's pretty good at the job it does.
    - petecox 8y ago
      Office already runs on Chromebooks via Google Play within the Android container [0]. Is it then worth MS' time and energy to port the browser interface as a Chrome OS 'native' app? [0] https://support.office.com/en-us/article/how-to-install-and-run-microsoft-office-on-a-chromebook-32f14a23-2c1a-4579-b973-d4b1d78561ad https://support.office.com/en-us/article/how-to-install-and-...
cosmodisk 8y ago
I'd switch to Linux on day one if they'd port Office.However, windows licensing costs are negligible in most companies,compared to the overall spending on software.
manigandham 8y ago
Why would companies just switch to Linux? Enterprises don't just use free OSS software like that. They'll use Redhat or some other corporate-backed variant, and in the end the license cost will be the same but most software and drivers don't work, users will need to be retrained, and support costs will rise dramatically. They can't even use .NET to build any internal desktop apps either. It's a terrible deal.

by cm2187 8y ago

scarface74 8y ago

Office has been available for Mac for well over two decades. There are so many more reasons for companies preferring Windows on the desktop than just Office.

cm2187 8y ago
I think there were so may more reasons. But what I see is all internal apps moving to be web based. 5 more years and Office is really going to be the last thing tying up corporates to Windows.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  Call me when Linux has anything that works as well as AD.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    You just need a server running AD. Third party and browser SSO with AD is a solved problem.
  - yellowapple 8y ago
    It does; it's called AD. :) The actual problem is the lack of Group Policy support (or even a viable equivalent - preferably one that's cross-platform).
  - merb 8y ago
    FreeIPA?!
- scarface74 8y ago
  Linux as it exists today on the desktop is still a headache. If anything, if office were ported to Chrome OS, that would be a real alternative.
  - tracker1 8y ago
    o365's web interface is pretty much what you're asking for. It's a rent based model, but so are the desktop apps at this point (mostly). It wouldn't really surprise me to see an electron wrapper around o365 UI for a future release to unify the applications more. The only part of "Office" I really even use though is Outlook (at work), and it's pretty good at the job it does.
  - petecox 8y ago
    Office already runs on Chromebooks via Google Play within the Android container [0]. Is it then worth MS' time and energy to port the browser interface as a Chrome OS 'native' app? [0] https://support.office.com/en-us/article/how-to-install-and-run-microsoft-office-on-a-chromebook-32f14a23-2c1a-4579-b973-d4b1d78561ad https://support.office.com/en-us/article/how-to-install-and-...

cosmodisk 8y ago

I'd switch to Linux on day one if they'd port Office.However, windows licensing costs are negligible in most companies,compared to the overall spending on software.

manigandham 8y ago

Why would companies just switch to Linux? Enterprises don't just use free OSS software like that. They'll use Redhat or some other corporate-backed variant, and in the end the license cost will be the same but most software and drivers don't work, users will need to be retrained, and support costs will rise dramatically. They can't even use .NET to build any internal desktop apps either. It's a terrible deal.