German state moves closer to ditching Microsoft products in government: "We're done with Teams!"

In brief: The long-running battle of Germany's northernmost state, Schleswig-Holstein, to make a complete switch from Microsoft software to open-source alternatives looks close to an end. Many government operatives will permanently wave goodbye to the likes of Teams, Word, Excel, and Outlook in the next three months in a move to ensure independence, sustainability, and security.

Plans to go open-source were drawn up by Schleswig-Holstein as far back as 2017. In 2021, the state found another incentive to make the switch: Windows 11's hardware requirements. A move to LibreOffice and other open-source programs had a deadline of 2026 – there was no date set for ditching Windows at the time.

Last year brought news of a plan by the state to replace Windows with Linux and further expansion of LibreOffice, Open-Xchange, Nextcloud, and the Univention Active Directory (AD).

Now, Digitalisation Minister Dirk Schroedter has announced that "We're done ...