For those who may be interested, this is a followup on earlier discussions about whether MS will/can develop a Linux version of MS Office. For those of you interested, this is one opinion (from a service called "Woody's Office Watch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3. OFFICE ON LINUX? WHEN PORKERS FLY In case you haven't heard the "news", there's been a lot of whispering about Microsoft's year-long attempt to get Office to run on Linux (Windows Magazine has a thorough report at http://www.winmag.com/specialreports/news/linux0817.htm ). Apparently a French company that specializes in making Windows-to-UNIX application porting software has been working on turning a sow's ear into a silk purse... uh, on making a full-blown Windows version of Office run under Linux. I don't doubt the press reports for a minute: Microsoft is famous for spending money on seemingly impossible projects - even for supporting two competing technologies at the same time, to see which one will prove viable. The 'Softies learn a lot that way about the practical advantages and problems of venturing into new fields. Development Darwinism works. In this case, though, I don't think it's time to buy more Red Hat stock. Yes, Microsoft might some day get a small subset of Office to perform in a relatively stable fashion under Linux. Yes, much of what Microsoft might learn about such a port could be very valuable in the ultimate .NET push, where a multi-user version of Office with lots of bells and whistles might run on a server (presumably NT, not Linux). But there's no way Microsoft is going to get a Linux version of Office to work just like the Windows version. It ain't gonna happen - at least, not in the foreseeable future. Microsoft has been trying it for years with the Mac, and invariably (with a few minor features as exceptions) the Mac version of Office is forever playing catch-up with the PC version. Microsoft is hedging its bets. That's all. Smart move, if you ask me. ********************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following text in the *body* (*not* the subject line) of the letter: unsubscribe gnhlug **********************************************************
