When we talk about Windows, we generally also talk about the entire Microsoft ecosystem. Although there are alternatives for all types of software, in the end what is used the most, for example, in the field of office automation, is Office . As in Windows 10 and Windows 11, the most used cloud is OneDrive . But what about these services when we decide to use another operating system, such as Ubuntu?
Ubuntu is one of the most popular Linux distros. This operating system prevails, above all, free software, and free, compared to proprietary, closed-source, and commercial programs such as those offered by Microsoft. Thus, for example, it offers us the possibility of setting up our own private cloud, as well as using alternative office suites to Office, such as LibreOffice or OpenOffice.
But, if we like Microsoft’s products and services, that doesn’t mean we can’t use them on our Linux. Although it is true that we will have to give more back to achieve it.
Office is not for Linux, but you can use it
Microsoft offers its office suite for Windows and macOS, but has never offered it for other operating systems, such as Linux. This leaves the operating system free in the background when it comes to using professional or more advanced programs. LibreOffice is an excellent office suite, but, to be honest, its functionalities are far from those of Office, especially the advanced ones.
However, if we want to use Office on Linux we will be able to do so by resorting to other alternatives. The first one, and the obvious one, is to use a virtual machine with Windows to run Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and any other program for the Microsoft system.
And, if we do not want to resort to the use of virtual machines, then what we must do is install Wine on the PC, a platform that takes Windows libraries to Linux and allows us to install and use programs as if we were doing it directly in Windows, even running the .exe.
Of course, if we have a Microsoft 365 license, it will allow us to activate and use the Office programs on our Linux without problems as if it were just another computer.
And OneDrive?
One of the services offered by the Microsoft subscription model, in addition to the use of Office programs, is OneDrive. Without paying anything else, we will be able to enjoy 1 TB of storage space in the cloud , space that we can use for whatever we want, from saving our Office documents to sharing files or saving backup copies of our data.
As with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, OneDrive does not have an official client for use on Linux. However, there are other unofficial clients that will allow us to use the Microsoft cloud from Linux, such as Onedrive-d . This program, written in Python and open source, allows us to use OneDrive on any distro quickly and easily. And, by being linked to our Microsoft Account, we will be able to enjoy the entire terabyte of storage space that the company offers us.
