I think there is a bigger problem - using Microsoft Office means that an organisation is stuck in 1990's ways of working. The web should replace these tools that were developed for personal computers that came with floppy disk drives instead of ethernet connections.
Companies 'stuck' on old-fashioned Microsoft Office also have to present information to customers and internal stakeholders, so they hire a 'web department' that then becomes the new typing pool. Instead of dictated or hand-written things that get typed up on 'Wordperfect' (MS Office killed the typing pool for good), we now have Word documents or Excel spreadsheets that some 'web person' has to then copy onto some CMS or other system powered by a SQL database.
I did open a 'legacy spreadsheet' today so I appreciate that there is still some life in having data that way, however I cannot remember the last time I had a use case for a wordprocessor, Microsoft or otherwise.
I also know Microsoft do 'sharepoint' and a few other web things but not many 'real' websites have gone for the Redmond solution, 10% according to the survey I just Googled:
Although 10% isn't quite into Windows Phone territory of pointlessness, I can't imagine setting out today with a new project and instantly thinking 'Microsoft'.
I think the Microsoft problem will cure itself much like how the old typing pool died - people get old, they retire, new people come along and learn how to do stuff with the new tools, the more efficient processes and the demands of the time.
I honestly can't imagine using any other tools to do my job than office. As a student I tried the Google suite/docs and years of usage has me relieved that I could leave them behind. Thinking back the only thing I remember about them is the instances of them not working or not working correctly. Printing was a mess. Left/right clicking to open more complex interfaces would often interfere with native browser/system functionality.
There are no true alternatives in my opinion. Everything else just does not cut it. Websites are slow and more often than not come with all kinds of garbage. Such as advertisements and the latest and greatest font or version 1.25.2.3 of whatever.js (that developers insist must not get cached because they use continuous integration! (note '&t=' parameters when GETting a script)).
No please, PLEASE, let me keep my efficient clean familiar office applications. They are everything I need, I think it's great not much has changed about the basics since they were introduced. I love the fact that I can sit down behind office 2016 and office 2000 and be just as productive when working with simple documents. I love the fact that my dad, whom I often support with computer related stuff, did not even notice the update from word 2003 to 2010.
I am surprised to hear that you say that the difference between office 2000 and 2016 is not so big.
I find that sharing files between them is huge pain and that the UI is totally different.
Have you considered LibreOffice, it is at least as fast as ms office, but can work with files from any version of ms office or other programs. It also doesn't cost money, which you didn't mention, but is a concern for most people.
As for letting "your software", as the article made clear it is not yours. You keep them at the pleasure of microsoft. If they ship an update that breaks them you are screwed. If they decide that your version of office is too old for your new version of windows they can ship an update that breaks it and they are financially incentivized to do so.
I work with a lot of these 'business critical processes' done in Excel. Too often that information is squirrelled away on some 'business critical spreadsheet' and not shared properly in the organisation.
There was also a time when typing pools were totally essential, we don't defend typing pools and insist on having them now though.
Companies 'stuck' on old-fashioned Microsoft Office also have to present information to customers and internal stakeholders, so they hire a 'web department' that then becomes the new typing pool. Instead of dictated or hand-written things that get typed up on 'Wordperfect' (MS Office killed the typing pool for good), we now have Word documents or Excel spreadsheets that some 'web person' has to then copy onto some CMS or other system powered by a SQL database.
I did open a 'legacy spreadsheet' today so I appreciate that there is still some life in having data that way, however I cannot remember the last time I had a use case for a wordprocessor, Microsoft or otherwise.
I also know Microsoft do 'sharepoint' and a few other web things but not many 'real' websites have gone for the Redmond solution, 10% according to the survey I just Googled:
https://news.netcraft.com/archives/2017/02/27/february-2017-...
Although 10% isn't quite into Windows Phone territory of pointlessness, I can't imagine setting out today with a new project and instantly thinking 'Microsoft'.
I think the Microsoft problem will cure itself much like how the old typing pool died - people get old, they retire, new people come along and learn how to do stuff with the new tools, the more efficient processes and the demands of the time.