Using Outlook as a crutch for not moving to Linux is getting pretty weak these days. With Kmail, Evolution and other programs available for free now days, there is no reason not to switch the business desktop.

As for people who just cannot part from their use of MS Office, there is always the option of using a Codeweavers solution I suppose, but I personally don’t see the logic in sticking with it.

In his book, Ready…Set…Linux!, Marcel Gagne zipped users through the move from Windows to Linux desktops. He knows that businesses tend to move more slowly and tread more carefully than users. So, in this interview and in his new book, Moving to the Linux Business Desktop, Gagne describes ways to ease out of the bonds that bind a business to Microsoft. As icing on the cake, he offers some tips on using Linux shells.