Munich exploring a potential switch back to Windows

Feb 15, 2017 07:01 GMT  ·  By

The City of Munich, which has long been considered a pioneer of the transition from Windows to Linux, is now exploring ways to return to Microsoft’s solutions, with a proposal to move all computers to Windows 10 and Microsoft Office to be discussed today.

The Document Foundation, which is also the maker of LibreOffice, the productivity suite that’s being used on Munich’s computers powered by LiMux, says in a statement that returning to Windows and Microsoft Office is a step backward for the city because of a number of factors that include Microsoft’s proprietary formats.

In a statement released today, The Document Foundation explains that the proposal that’s being discussed today by Munich authorities actually ignores the main reason the city abandoned Microsoft software in the first place: “independence from a single software vendor and the move from proprietary to standard document formats.”

Document issues when upgrading Microsoft Office

“Although the proposal associates MS Office document formats with the ‘industry standard’ concept, it should be clear that all MS Office documents are proprietary and obfuscated, and therefore inappropriate for interoperability, even when they have been recognized by international standard bodies such as ISO,” the organization explains in a press release that you can read in full below.

The Document Foundation then goes on to point to a series of issues that might arise from moving back to Microsoft Office, such as document problems when upgrading from a previous release of Redmond’s productivity suite. Costs would also be substantially increased and the decision would be against the current trend of adopting open document standards in countries like the UK, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

“The Document Foundation thinks that the proposal to be discussed on Wednesday, February 15, represents a significant step backwards for the City of Munich, with a substantial increase in expenditure, an unknown amount of hidden cost related to interoperability, and a questionable usage of taxpayers money,” the press release also states.

Microsoft hasn’t yet issued a statement on Munich’s possible return to Windows and Office, but given that the proposal will be discussed in just a few hours, expect all the involved parties to release comments shortly after that.

Show Press Release