One of the most controversial points in my Our Linux Dream wish list was Microsoft Office for Linux. Just to clarify one more time, this is something I would like to happen, not something I think will happen. As I said, I don’t need Office and most geeks will not either. Thats fine, but not everyone is a geek. In order to attract more people to Linux (I could write a whole post on why more people using Linux is a good thing), Linux needs to offer as easy a switch as possible. For many people, that means having Office for Linux.

The most common response to this point is just make OpenOffice better. Even if we assume that OpenOffice is perfectly compatible with Office, Microsoft Office for Linux can still help. There are two things OpenOffice cannot do: be exactly the same as Office and be called Microsoft Office. While neither of those may seem important to you, both are important to less tech-savvy people, who don’t want to learn a new application or just don’t trust unfamiliar applications. In summary, the reason for Microsoft Office on Linux is marketing to the less tech-savvy.