As open source solutions gain additional ground and increasingly find their way in various aspects of life, Stuart Cohen, chief executive of the Open Source Development Lab (OSDL) has predicted that Microsoft and Linux will deepen their relation. In this context, he referred to the inevitability of a Microsoft Office version designed for Linux.

Further more, Cohen even approximated a period of two years for Microsoft to start implementing its Office client with open source technology. This intimate relationship due in the upcoming couple of years has at its basis the Apple precedent set by Microsoft with its Office for Mac application. Not only this, but the interaction between the two media is also catalyzed by the growing adoption tendencies experienced by Sun Microsystems' open source OpenOffice suite. The necessity to slow down OpenOffice will be the heart that will drive Microsoft's efforts towards the creation of a Linux Office.

"They did it once with Apple; they will do it again with Linux," stated Stuart Cohen at the LinuxWorld conference in San Francicso. "Microsoft will fight the total cost of ownership issue with a very inexpensive office solution. I do not think that they will open source Office, but they will make it available to run on Linux desktops."