On the desktop - a consistently good experience with a common application/document format is key. The assorted office options seriously lack in many ways -- both in usability and feature compatibility.
I prefer to look at this as, Office is seeing the desktop as becoming a diverse platform, so being more available benefits Office. Linux and OSX are becoming more accepted as compute options in a number of large companies where Windows once ruled.
Office 365 for the cloud, another step towards ubiquity.
Will it work? Who knows. But being open to adapting to changes in platform demographics is important in the application space.
I prefer to look at this as, Office is seeing the desktop as becoming a diverse platform, so being more available benefits Office. Linux and OSX are becoming more accepted as compute options in a number of large companies where Windows once ruled.
Office 365 for the cloud, another step towards ubiquity.
Will it work? Who knows. But being open to adapting to changes in platform demographics is important in the application space.