- cross-posted to:
- linux@programming.dev
- cross-posted to:
- linux@programming.dev
Mirko Brombin, the creator of Bottles, has got Microsoft 365 running on Linux. His posts on X showcase an installation that completes on a Windows 10 or 11 Wine prefix, signs in with his existing license, and launches at least one editor.
He achieved this using two things, an unreleased version of Soda and Bottles 67.4. If you remember, Soda is a Wine-based runner that facilitates easy running of Windows games and applications.
On first glance, what he posted might look like a developer-focused log, but these changes are the foundation of what full Microsoft 365 support via Bottles will one day hopefully look like.
The results of his work
Mirko was able to login into the MS 365 app using his credentials and was able to launch MS Word and use it. Of course that’s not the only thing he got working; since two-factor authentication passed, the suite detected his license, and OneDrive integration was functional.
The memory footprint of the office suite was less than 500MB, so this should be light on your Linux system.
The build he is currently testing is 2608 (20326.20144), which he says is the last build the installer will offer for Windows 10 and 11. And before you get all hyped up, wanting to try this out on your computer, know that you will have to wait.
Soda 11.0-11 (error 404 for now) has no release yet, and the component catalog that ships with Bottles 67.4 stops at Soda 11.0-10. Even the long-standing community request for a Microsoft Office installer in Bottles is still open.
Do we need Microsoft 365 on Linux?
Till date, there’s not been an official Linux desktop build of Microsoft 365, and seeing how Microsoft currently operates, I don’t expect one to appear anytime soon.
What’s been achieved here is remarkable. Once fully implemented, this will help draw in people into Linux, as many shudder at the thought of switching to the platform because their preferred office suite doesn’t work here.
For context, CodeWeavers sells a paid Wine product, CrossOver, and its database still lists Microsoft Office 365 on Linux as “Installs, Will Not Run,” last tested against CrossOver 26.3.0.
Which is why I hope the fix travels further than Bottles. Wine sits beneath every one of these projects, including Soda. So a patch that lands upstream reaches all of them at once, and you would not need a particular runner to get Office working.
I really dislike microsoft office, but the unfortunate reality is that it is used everywhere and it is such a disadvantage not to have, onlyoffice works great for me but the risk of things not looking right when sharing with someone with office is quite big. So I really like this progression, needing to run a full windows emulation to get office is a pain.
That sounds like malicious action from Microsoft versus parsing a well standardized and open format.
Edit: this is the equivalent of choosing violence and we shouldn’t accept msft into the open source community at this point.
M$ have specialised in anti competive malicious actions for over three decades. It’s baked into their culture
Ask your job to provide a device that can run the microslop software
Here’s how that would go:
Envidon: I want a device that can run O365.
Job: We can certainly make that happen. Just hand in your PC to the servicedesk and they will install Windows for you.
Envidon: So I can dualboot Linux for actual work and Windows for slopwork?
Job: Hahaha, no. Linux or O365.
They did, and then I put linux on it, so I created the problem I guess. (But struggling a but with office every now and then is better than dealing with windows always)
Haha, I see. I wish I could use Linux as my work operating system but a separate device is as good as I can get