When you have to use Microsoft...but you love Linux. Integrating Ecosystems ep. 1

This one's about trying to integrate a Linux desktop into a Microsoft ecosystem for work or school including OneDrive, SharePoint, MS Fonts, Office Web Apps, MS Teams, Exchange/O365 Email and more!

Timecodes:
0:00 Intro
3:02 Disclaimers
3:27 OneDrive/SharePoint
7:25 Office files
8:04 Install MS Fonts
10:40 Web Apps for Office 365
13:25 Native MS Teams
14:21 MS Exchange and Calendar (sort of)
16:40 Concluding tips

This video was sponsored by Skillshare.
#office365onlinux #linux

Links:

[Darkest_of_Winter]

I am the only one in my company using Linux full time and I have been on the same page as all these tips. Thanks!

[DKM-uykv]

I've been getting tired of Windows 10 but Windows 11 has pushed me over the edge, I am currently running Pop OS on my laptop but now looking at running Manjaro for a bit. Also for those reading this is it normal to move from distro to distro in the beginning of moving to Linux?

[bosmaior]

Regarding MS Teams - one of the last apps you discuss: it runs well, yet it lacks multiple features. For instance, you cannot share the video output of a specific Window (you can only share the entire desktop), you are limited to seeing a maximum of four Webcam outputs simultaneously, there is no together mode, and there is no support for blurred backgrounds.

There are clear indications that Microsoft is purposely limiting the range of features available on Linux. To give an example: about a year ago, Microsoft temporarily enabled 3*3 grids for video chats, so you could see up to nine people at the same time, yet after one or two weeks the feature was disabled it again. Interestingly, there are reports that for a brief while blurred backgrounds worked, too.

A popular thread imploring Microsoft to keep the Linux client up-to-date ('Keep the Linux Client up to date with the latest features') was locked in May. A new one with the same title has since been started, yet it hasn't gained the same traction. I think many people have given up, to be honest.

[TopHatCat]

I've been using Linux since I built my first desktop computer back in 2019, started with Linux Mint then switched to Manjaro early this year. I still keep a W10 laptop for whenever I need to use it for whatever reason. I'll be installing Linux Mint on that old laptop once Microsoft ends support for W10 and only use Windows if my next job requires me to use W11. Otherwise, at least for home use, I'll be using Linux, it's just been getting easier to use every year as I've gotten used to it. My own home uses are gaming, media server, writing and web browsing, and I don't need Microsoft's ecosystem for what I do.

[bskull]

I use a combination of WPS and LO to replace Word and PPT. I use WPS for when compatibility is a necessity (like dealing with Word documents with complex layout, or dealing with doc without x), and I use LO when writing documents from scratch or when I don't care about exact layout compatibility. For Excel and Visio, I use LO exclusively. Also WPS comes with updated MS core fonts.

[djkazaz]

For those that have a fairly high end system (mine is a Ryzen 3700x, 32GB Ram) the easiest way to integrate windows is to run in a VM, built with KVM. It will need 2-3 days of research to optimize it for performance, but after that you will have the whole Windows ecosystem in a safe self contained environment. I even use MS Teams for video conferencing through KVM, that’s how good the performance is.

[frostsmaker]

I start leaving windows in 2020 in June. No regret.
I just hate that I have to use windows to finish my assignment.

I guess this is how it feels to be different, but I kind of like it. :)
I mean, sometimes you don't want to be the same as others. You want to be special and it is not wrong, by nature we are different.
There is no one who is 99% exactly the same.

[notyoutube]

gaming is used to be hard on Linux, now it is easier but not opensource.

[shanethomas]

Great video! Looking forward to Part 2! Unfortunately since Linux doesn't play nicely with Citrix, I'm not able to run it, but it's great you're showing how to merge work/school with it!

[rahulshah]

This helped a lot. From the edge browser, I installed outlook PWA. Exactly what I wanted.

[steve_account]

For now. Run a Windows 10 VM with the Office Products. It's easy and Free as long as you don't care about specific settings in the VM. and as long as your Machine can handle anything modern a VM would be good. drawbacks are that you are just using WIndows. Benefits are that you are only using Windows for your JOB and can go back to Factorio when you are done.

[ekim]

I legit am watching this to see if I’m missing something in Windows 😂

[TomSchillemans]

Microsoft Edge these days isn’t bad at all! It used chromium as a render engine. Sure it still gets a loting flack but that was mostly because of the early days. I’m using edge as my daily driver browser for a while now. It has some really cool features.

[TheTrekGuy]

I havn't used linux desktop seriously since early 2000. I recently went to ubuntu for my daily driver at home and MacOS for work. except for some games i don't have to use windows.... i do miss MS Outlook though on Linux, Thunderbird is great but just not the same and i got Outlook on mac through work.

[Frybyte]

My reluctance about using Libre Office is that it's slow to load and cumbersome. After years of using what is now Apache(?) OpenOffice I'm often more than a little frustrated by the choices Libre has made. That said both Libre and OO seem to be able to open most MS stuff and I don't care if the formating is screwed up when I open it as the info is what's important. obviously I'm not in an industry that sticks to 'it must be x' but still I don't understand why we need to worry about this. My favorite font is totally foreign to most desktops (linux too) again and frankly I think MS font choices suck.

[itsPenguinBoy]

I really wish Adobe CC was available on Linux

[HisLoveArmy]

The web apps works great, been using them for a couple years and I don't miss any desktop apps

[Valdoror]

I hate using Windows at work, but am forced to... Planning to set up a GNU/Linux VM on that Winshit and see what I can do with it... Your video may help.
Other than that, I exclusively use GNU systems at home and am more than happy! Kubuntu, Triskel... (KDE Plasma rocks!)

[needsLITHIUM]

Netgear routers with a USB drive actually work really well with both Windows and Linux networks, and even play nice with mixed networks that include Microsoft, Mac OS, and Linux devices, and their iOS/Android management app for their routers is really good in my experience, so if you're running a small business or home office, if your ISP lets you use 3rd party routers, grab a Netgear gateway device that supports the standard for your ISP. If you live in the US, you can even get out of paying those annoying monthly or annual equipment rental fees, and get the actual advertised price, with only taxes and nominal fees on top.

[remnant]

I use Garuda (Arch Fork) with 2 monitors for the interwebs and Windows 10 for gaming and Photoshop. Garuda runs very smooth and fast. Never had a problem with it for almost a year now.