Re: MS Office for Linux

[stan johnson <sjohnson@gwi.net>]

** Reply to note from love@cptech.org Sat, 6 Mar 1999 17:00:15 -0500

> Simson said that Microsoft was working on a version of Microsoft
> Office for Linux. I contacted Simson, and he confirmed this, and said
> his sources were programmers at Microsoft.

Makes sense. How else to prevent Corel/Word Perfect from possibly
thriving, and Star Office from building up installed base? 

They can't just change the OS to make it incompatible, after all!!!

I'll predict (an easy call, I admit!) that Office will be free or nearly for
personal use. The whole objective, IMO, is to spread dependence on
their proprietary format into the growing Linux world, and if they can kill
off WP to boot, why that's even better! There will be some evidence of
their intentions buried in the nature of the import/export filters they
include. Any one want to make any [virtual] bets on filters for current
versions of competitors? I'm speaking of export filters, of course --
import filters they will inevitably include.

I expect their release will be some sort of OfficeLite, to try to create a
perceived need to use the full application suite for full functionality. On
WindowsXXX of course...


stan

-- 
Stan Johnson 
sjohnson@gwi.net
03/06/99 05:41pm