Microsoft To Launch Office For Linux?

Microsoft is already working on Office for Android, which is based on Linux. The major news is that the Windows maker is reportedly working to launch Office for Linux as well.  

Thursday, February 07, 2013:  Is Microsoft finally planning to wave the white flag and put an end to the war it waged against the world of free and open source software? Well, it seems to be true. Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch its Office productivity suite for Linux. As of now, the software giant has not released any of its desktop software for Linux. Only Skype came to Linux but it was an acquisition. However, nothing is official about the launch of Office for Linux. The topic of discussion came up from Brussels, Belgium, where a source familiar with the matter spoke about it to Phoronix’s Michael Larabel at Free and Open source Software Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM). FOSDEM is one of the largest open source conferences in Europe.

The source mentioned here is one of Microsoft’s open source developers. He stated that Microsoft is 'meaningfully looking' forward to release a full-fledged Linux port of Office in 2014. The news might turn up to be true as Microsoft is already working on Office for Android, which is based on Linux. So, if Microsoft is already working on Office for Android, then the company can launch it on Linux too as almost half the work of porting should would already have been done.

Now, coming to Microsoft Office for Linux, a major question is will an open source fan buy it? Linux distribution already comes armed with LibreOffice productivity suite, which is available for free. So, an open source fan would hardly find a point of buying Microsoft’s Office for Linux. Also, if someone needs to use Office, then the user can boot into Windows, as majority of the users have dual booting with Windows and Linux on their PCs.

Source: efytimes.com