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If Office was available for Linux, some organizations could consider deploying Linux workstations with Office since that's what most users/employees need is bas

If Office was available for Linux, some organizations could consider deploying Linux workstations with Office since that's what most users/employees need is basically a browser (100%/users) and the Office suite (50-90%/users). Office Online is severely gimped as noted in the article and is solely to counteract adoption of Google Office.

outside1234 7y ago
What is a good example of it being gimped? I honestly think its better online than the apps themselves.
- KingMachiavelli 7y ago
  In Office 365 Excel, there is no way to zoom out or in besides the browser's zoom which causes the whole UI to be scaled.
  - tracker1 7y ago
    You may want to look in their uservoice forums to see how requested that feature is, and upvote it. I've seen a few of the features I've requested and supported bear fruit from this.
- wazanator 7y ago
  Excel is much more limited in the browser compared to the desktop app. Conditional formatting for example can not use formulas in the online version. The browser version is good but it's not at the same level as the desktop or even Google sheets yet.
- leblancfg 7y ago
  See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/office-online-service-description/office-online-service-description#excel https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptio... When you see a footnote next to a 'Yes' in the online version, read it as a 'No for 90% of use cases'.
darkcha0s 7y ago
What kind of an assumption is this. Most people need an operating system they are comfortable doing their daily work, not just a browser and a notepad. Jesus christ, not all non-devs work only in office.
- KingMachiavelli 7y ago
  > Most people need an operating system they are comfortable doing their daily work. True, and Windows is very entrenched partly due to Office and legacy software depending on it. Chromebooks and Mac OS seem to be adopted without to much hindrance from a UI perspective. i.e How much more populate would Chromebooks be if they ran the full desktop Office suite? > not all non-devs work only in office. Certainly not all but a lot of jobs, particularly in management consist mostly of emails, meetings, spreadsheets, word documents + a few web apps. Also, lets not forget about all the jobs where the computer isn't really part of the job at all; it's just a tool to communicate (email) and for document production/consumption. These machines are basically kiosks that Microsoft has milking licenses out of for Windows + Office + 365 Storage. Some businesses can switch to Google but many rely on existing Excel spreadsheets elsewhere in their organization so there is a lot of momentum to switch away from non-desktop spreadsheet and document applications.
  - ClumsyPilot 7y ago
    I disagree with this 'legacy software's moniker, all the most productive software falls into this category. Look at the Autodesk Suite, Adobe Suite, Enterprise Architect, blender3D, Unity game engine, a traditional IDE like Jetbrains or VisualStudio. They have waay more power than the their web-based or, worse yet, electron competitors.
    - KingMachiavelli 7y ago
      I was only referring to software that's still tied to Windows out of legacy/inertia. I'm not saying all desktop applications are legacy. But It's appropriate because if those application were going to be rewritten today, there is no way they would tie them exclusively to the Win32 API. Blender, Jetbrains IDE's, and even VSCode (pretty sure Unity is multiplatform too) are all working just fine with multiplatform and aren't dependent on any particular OS. If you've ever had to deal with Autodesk like software, it's a mess of old code and poor practices. It's a nightmare getting that kind of software working for Enterprise/Educational environments. Just looking at the Enterprise Architect site brings me back to the days when software used to come on actual disks in large, book-like boxes. Yes, the software is useful and has yet to be replaced by something more modern, whether web based or at least multi-platform. But that's why it's entrenched in many businesses and Microsoft is riding on the back of that by making sure it's tied to their platform.
Delmania 7y ago
No, they wouldn't. What kind of claim is this? Active directory, group policy, etc. If you're running an org on Google Business, sure, but most large organizations are running AD and Windows works well with that.

outside1234 7y ago

What is a good example of it being gimped? I honestly think its better online than the apps themselves.

KingMachiavelli 7y ago
In Office 365 Excel, there is no way to zoom out or in besides the browser's zoom which causes the whole UI to be scaled.
- tracker1 7y ago
  You may want to look in their uservoice forums to see how requested that feature is, and upvote it. I've seen a few of the features I've requested and supported bear fruit from this.
wazanator 7y ago
Excel is much more limited in the browser compared to the desktop app. Conditional formatting for example can not use formulas in the online version. The browser version is good but it's not at the same level as the desktop or even Google sheets yet.
leblancfg 7y ago
See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/office-online-service-description/office-online-service-description#excel https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptio... When you see a footnote next to a 'Yes' in the online version, read it as a 'No for 90% of use cases'.

darkcha0s 7y ago

What kind of an assumption is this. Most people need an operating system they are comfortable doing their daily work, not just a browser and a notepad. Jesus christ, not all non-devs work only in office.

KingMachiavelli 7y ago
> Most people need an operating system they are comfortable doing their daily work. True, and Windows is very entrenched partly due to Office and legacy software depending on it. Chromebooks and Mac OS seem to be adopted without to much hindrance from a UI perspective. i.e How much more populate would Chromebooks be if they ran the full desktop Office suite? > not all non-devs work only in office. Certainly not all but a lot of jobs, particularly in management consist mostly of emails, meetings, spreadsheets, word documents + a few web apps. Also, lets not forget about all the jobs where the computer isn't really part of the job at all; it's just a tool to communicate (email) and for document production/consumption. These machines are basically kiosks that Microsoft has milking licenses out of for Windows + Office + 365 Storage. Some businesses can switch to Google but many rely on existing Excel spreadsheets elsewhere in their organization so there is a lot of momentum to switch away from non-desktop spreadsheet and document applications.
- ClumsyPilot 7y ago
  I disagree with this 'legacy software's moniker, all the most productive software falls into this category. Look at the Autodesk Suite, Adobe Suite, Enterprise Architect, blender3D, Unity game engine, a traditional IDE like Jetbrains or VisualStudio. They have waay more power than the their web-based or, worse yet, electron competitors.
  - KingMachiavelli 7y ago
    I was only referring to software that's still tied to Windows out of legacy/inertia. I'm not saying all desktop applications are legacy. But It's appropriate because if those application were going to be rewritten today, there is no way they would tie them exclusively to the Win32 API. Blender, Jetbrains IDE's, and even VSCode (pretty sure Unity is multiplatform too) are all working just fine with multiplatform and aren't dependent on any particular OS. If you've ever had to deal with Autodesk like software, it's a mess of old code and poor practices. It's a nightmare getting that kind of software working for Enterprise/Educational environments. Just looking at the Enterprise Architect site brings me back to the days when software used to come on actual disks in large, book-like boxes. Yes, the software is useful and has yet to be replaced by something more modern, whether web based or at least multi-platform. But that's why it's entrenched in many businesses and Microsoft is riding on the back of that by making sure it's tied to their platform.

Delmania 7y ago

No, they wouldn't. What kind of claim is this? Active directory, group policy, etc. If you're running an org on Google Business, sure, but most large organizations are running AD and Windows works well with that.