Those who know me know that over the past several months, I've been using Linux (mostly Ubuntu) nearly full time.
I got tired of the forced telemetry, the bloatware, the ads, and all the AI garbage Microsoft has been shoving into its OS. So I switched and am loving it.
But one hurdle for some switching to Linux is the distinct absence of Microsoft 365. You might loathe Windows but still need (or even just prefer) Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
I can relate.
Couldn't Microsoft just sell Microsoft 365 for Linux though?
Let's consider that for a moment.
What about LibreOffice?
Long before Linux on the desktop became a viable alternative for the average user, there were productivity suites designed to take on Microsoft Office.
OpenOffice was a good free alternative for a while and is still available. Then came LibreOffice, which came as a community-driven fork of OpenOffice, seeking to improve upon the OpenOffice foundation while seeking to be free from Oracle's control.
LibreOffice is available for Windows, macOS and Linux and is an excellent option.
But it's not Microsoft Office.
Look, I'm not a fan of Microsoft any more than the next guy, but let's be real. Word, Excel and PowerPoint do a lot of things well, and especially if you need to share files with friends, family and colleagues, working from the same software can be important.
Otherwise, you risk running into formatting issues and other minor incompatibilities.
I've found that slide shows created with LibreOffice or OpenOffice don't always display properly in PowerPoint, for example.
Usually the formatting issues are minor and are just a matter of an extra bit of spacing or something similar, but it's enough to be frustrating.
So as much as I love the idea of LibreOffice, if exact formatting is important when collaborating with Microsoft Office users, it's not always the best choice.
What would it take for Microsoft to bring 365 to Linux?
Call me naive, but I don't think it would be a huge stretch for Microsoft to develop a version of Microsoft 365 for Linux.
Microsoft already provides some software for Linux, like Microsoft Edge and Visual Studio Code, and is a "Platinum" member of the Linux Foundation. So it's not as though bringing Word, Excel and PowerPoint to the land of 'nix would be an incredible leap of logic, I'd argue.
I fully grant that developing any program or software suite for any operating system requires time and manpower, and I recognize that asking for Microsoft 365 on Linux equates to asking Microsoft to spend time and resources on the project.
But I believe they truly could make it work, if they wanted.
I don't think that will ever happen though.
Lowering the "switch to Linux" barrier
I have to wonder if part of Microsoft's reluctance to build native Microsoft 365 apps for Linux is due to a desire to not make it any easier for the masses to switch to Linux than it already is.
They know that if Microsoft 365 were available on Linux, they'd easily lose many people who stick with Windows just to use Microsoft Office.
Andre Labbe and I were just talking about this, actually, and he raised a great question.
How much does Microsoft actually care about Windows at this point? It's a very good question indeed.
It seems to me that if Microsoft truly cared about Windows, they'd spend more time optimizing it and ensuring updates are actually stable before release and stop working so hard to alienate users.
Services are the name of the game these days for many companies. Apple and Microsoft both use their respective operating systems as vehicles for selling their services. And why not? A hardware sale is a one-time sale. A sale of Windows is a one-time sale.
A subscription service? That's monthly recurring revenue. That's what board rooms and share holders salivate over.
Would most Linux users pay for it?
On the other hand, it's only fair to wonder if a paid subscription would even appeal to most Linux users.
Most (though not all) software on Linux is free. Many of those switching to Linux do so to get away from US-based tech or at least from the likes of Microsoft.
Personally (you might call me crazy) I would actually pay for a personal Microsoft 365 license if I could use it on Linux. But I recognize that I'm hardly the majority.
I'm one guy out of millions of desktop Linux users. Just because I want it doesn't mean it makes sense for Microsoft.
I mean let's be real.
In order for Microsoft to devote the time and money into developing the apps for Linux, they have to have some inkling of a return on investment. Right?
Would that return ever come?
"But what about macOS?"
It's true that Microsoft does offer the Microsoft 365 apps for macOS, and I'm glad they do. I use them frequently on my Mac. But macOS enjoys a much stronger market share than Linux does, for now.
If you go buy a computer from your local retailer, unless you're buying a Chromebook, odds are you're getting either a Windows computer or a Mac. So Microsoft knows well that it makes good financial sense to support both of the major desktop operating systems.
The reality is Linux just isn't a "major desktop operating system" to them. Not yet anyway.
Maybe ever.
The push toward web apps
The whole point may be moot anyway, to be fair, as Microsoft has spent considerable effort over the past several years to push web-first "progressive web apps," or PWAs.
While PWAs do have their issues, one of their big benefits is the ability to run on just about any operating system that can display native web content. They're built using much of the same technology as any website. HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, etc.
Though I would much prefer a native desktop app experience for Linux users, this push of Microsoft's is actually not a bad middle ground.
Just like Google's own Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, Microsoft has web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Teams.
They're not quite a seamless as the full desktop apps you'd expect to see on Windows or macOS, but they actually do a decent job.
I've gone through many work days just using the Microsoft 365 web apps. They worked just fine.
A nice to have that will never be
Realistically, as fun as it is to wonder if we'll ever see a native Microsoft 365 version for Linux, I just don't see it happening. Not because Microsoft can't but because they choose not to.
Could that ever change? Maybe, but I'm not holding my breath.
Microsoft most likely doesn't see value in devoting the time and resources to developing and maintaining a native Linux version. And even if they did, how many people would pay for it?
Besides, they're pushing more and more to web apps. At least that means that Linux users can still use the Office apps, albeit trimmed down versions, from their favorite web browser.
At the end of the day, I think this is a prime example of the Catch 22 of Linux software support. If Linux had a larger market share on the desktop, it would be more attractive for app developers. But in order for it to have a larger market share, it needs better commercial software support.
And so you see the issue.
Still, it remains true that Windows market share is slowly falling while macOS and Linux are slowly climbing. What will that look like five or ten years from now? I don't know. But I have to wonder: if we keep trending this way, could we hit a point where Linux on the desktop does start seeing serious support even for the likes of Microsoft 365?
I can dream, right?