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18 Aug 2006
Microsoft will release a version of Office to run on Linux within the "next couple of years", according to the chief executive of the Open Source Development Lab (OSDL).
"They did it once with Apple; they will do it again with Linux," Stuart Cohen said during an interview with vnunet.com at the LinuxWorld conference in San Francicso.
OSDL aims to advance Linux and open source. The consortium employs Linux founder Linus Torvalds, and is funded by IT vendors including IBM, HP and Intel.
Cohen argued that Microsoft will be compelled to create a Linux version in a move to pre-empt the further rise of Sun Microsystems' open source OpenOffice productivity suite.
"Microsoft will fight the total cost of ownership [issue] with a very inexpensive office solution," he said. "I do not think that they will open source Office, but they will make it available to run on Linux desktops."
Cohen compared the expected Linux Microsoft Office version to Oracle's Database 10g Express Edition application launched in November.
The software offers a free entry-level database in an effort to fight off competition from open source competitors.
Cohen claimed that Microsoft is starting to soften its stance against open source. "They are trying to cooperate," said Cohen. "They have now acknowledged that Linux is here to stay."
The change is attitude is limited to Microsoft as a company, he stressed, maintaining that Windows and Linux will remain fierce competitors.
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Microsoft Access on Linux
What is a person to do if they want their Microsoft Access / SQL Server solution to run on a Linux platform? I don't see how software costs will come down if I have to re-write three years of coding. Linux should must run Access and SQL.
Posted by: Greg 12 Sep 2006
Office for Linux
Yea and they minute they do this the Linux community will be up in arms. I can see the headlines "Microsoft wipes out another Software Vendor". Then will come the anti-trust lawsuits against Microsoft. Be grateful that Microsoft is a windows house. Has any one thought what would happen if Microsoft released XP to open source? Would Linux die?
Posted by: Richard 21 Aug 2006
Open-Source advocates
Open-Source advocates are obsessed with removing intellectual property and private ownership so that no one owns product X and everyone equally has access to X whilst a non-elected body oversees and enforces the effort. Where have I seen this before? Oh yes! The failed idiocy of Communism.
Posted by: Nicholas 21 Aug 2006
Not for a few years, that's for sure
Microsoft would never release XP as an open-source piece of software. Why? They have too much IP at stake in that operating system. Take the recent MS06-040 security bulletin and associated updates for example. Not even 24 hours after the update patches were released, hackers had reverse engineered the fixes and were actively exploiting unpatched Windows 2000 systems. OT, I don't think MS would release an Office variant for Linux either. The need simply isn't there. Sure, they could potentially gain some measly increase in market share (and I say 'potentially' extremely dubiously), but it would not be financially viable for them... just yet. What's more, you can bet that MS know their potential target audience well. I know that a lot of people (perhaps the majority) of home users who are Linux users are also open-source advocates. MS would obviously release Office for *nix in typical proprietary, closed source format, and that just wouldn't sit well with a lot of people. Business and enterprise may see it differently, but given that MS is unlikely to release Office for *nix in the next few years, it gives OpenOffice and others plenty of time to play catch-up. 99% of MS document specifications are understood correctly by OpenOffice anyway.
Posted by: Owen Stickley 21 Aug 2006
Interesting ..
Considering the latest research shows the *nix market makes up less than 1% of web usage, and apple is at 2.5% I dont see how compelled they are to continue development.
Posted by: Ben 20 Aug 2006