Microsoft just brought their first Office application to Linux today. Microsoft Team app is now available with both a public preview of a 64-bit .deb release and a 64-bit .rpm release for Linux users.
For those new to Microsoft Teams, it is a unified communication and collaboration platform that enables workplace chat, video meetings, file storage, and application integration.
Explained Marissa Salazar, a Microsoft marketing manager,
“The Microsoft Teams client is the first Office app that is coming to Linux desktops, and will support all of Teams’ core capabilities.”
Microsoft Team Chat
The Microsoft Teams application windows mirror precisely what is available on both the macOS and Microsoft platforms. This step from Microsoft is an apparent foray into a market dominated by the likes of Slack, Chanty, Workzone, Fleep, and Cisco’s Spark.
As we reported earlier this year on Microsoft’s Windows Subsystem for Linux, WSL, the Washington-based company is increasingly braving the “Linux waters” with their increased adaptation of Linux and acknowledgment of them in the desktop market.
Microsoft’s goal is to expose Microsoft Teams to more customers by expanding the platforms on which it runs.
Microsoft said in their release blog post,
“Most of our customers have devices running on a variety of different platforms such as Windows 10, Linux and others. We are committed to supporting mixed environments across our cloud and productivity offerings, and with this announcement, we are pleased to extend the Teams experience to Linux users.”
Slack, Chanty, Workzone, Fleep, and Spark should all be wary of Microsoft’s latest move.
According to the tech giant, Microsoft Teams has grown to 20 million daily users. That number is a 50 percent bump in just the last quarter. Besides their latest Linux offering, Microsoft Team is available for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and the web.
Jim Zemlin, the executive director of The Linux Foundation, welcomes Microsoft’s latest acknowledgment of Linux as a player in the Desktop OS market,
“With this announcement, Microsoft is bringing its hub for teamwork to Linux. I’m thrilled to see Microsoft’s recognition of how companies and educational institutions alike are using Linux to transform their work culture.”
Microsoft’s plunge into the Linux market is bold, but one that benefits both Microsoft and the Linux Community. Interested Linux users can download the Microsoft Teams for Linux offering from teams.microsoft.com.
