A true remote execution has a tiny footprint and won't need much of a system.

I think it's a reasonable model. It eliminates flakiness of patching and upgrading software.

I am not sure there is a real market for Linux desktops. People [like Corel and other Linux distributors] with server operating systems seem to have this death wish to compete head to head with Windows. No one has ever done it successfully.

I wouldn't be surprised if someday Office comes as part of a basic cable service, for a few dollars a month.