I think this is even more true in the era of LLMs, because on the rare difference somebody might get hung up on - there's no longer real need for support. LLMs absolutely excel at questions like 'In MS Office I can do [x] to achieve [y]. How do I do that in Libre Office?'
For example, to be that supplier that whose documents never quite look quite right or who always struggles with the docusign /PDF /email /spreadsheet /whatever whatever.
For an SMB, fitting in with the de facto IT herd that is represented by your customers and partners is essential for survival. Sure, some SMBs do decide to buck the trend and move over, but it's hard and not for the faint hearted.
Time will tell if this problem solves itself as 365 becomes a pure web app and Windows becomes an RDP-like Cloud PC.
The irony of Bill Gates vision of a Personal computer where you run what you like and not what the mainframe gives your terminal becoming Windows where you consume what you are told to is not lost on me.
Linux machines don't normally include Arial due to the license, and only PDF/A includes the fonts used in the document.
PDF/A has given me all kinds of issues (windows users get incorrect glyp placement with very bad results). Regular PDF has worked fine for me.
In practice however most programs seem to include fonts in exported PDFs?
Which, as companies switch away from using Microsoft products, are now the people using Microsoft Office.
Everybody can open a PDF. Do you want to be the ones having problems sending Office documents to companies that have already stopped using it?
You have to open and edit documents you get from outside of the office. Clients regularly send me spreadsheets that don't work in Libreoffice, for example.
Why wait for mass survellience and remote attesention when u can have it today!!! :D
IMO, if a user's needs can be met with a Chromebook, Linux + a browser + email + Zoom/or whatever would suit them well.
I think you're going to have a hard sell if they rely on Office or other Windows-only software, and although well meaning, it might be doing them a disservice if they can't run the software they're accustomed to.