During the recent LinuxWorld conference, rumors persisted that Microsoft was preparing a Linux version of Office. These reports would then be denied by Microsoft and, occasionally, even the people who started the rumors. None of these stories had sufficient credibility to report here as news but, after the fact, a CNet writer has produced a very good summary of the evolution of those rumors and their significance.

At the heart of the contradictions is an interesting quandry. If Microsoft admits it is working on porting Office to Linux, the first real challenger to Windows hegemony, it promotes its competition's credibility just when Linux needs it the most. If Microsoft does not prepare for the possibility that Linux might win a good bit of the market, however, it could miss a critical opportunity to sell the product that accounts for almost half of the Redmond company's revenues. The ongoing antitrust suit that could separate Office from Windows, of course, has a bearing on all this.

To read the referenced article, click to news.com.