So after a bunch of time trying to get an answer from ANYONE about whether Office365 online would work on a Linux machine (Ubuntu 14.04) using Chrome, I finally got an answer.

I searched the web and I got a bunch or outdated information. I called Microsoft support (sales and technical), and they couldn’t tell me.

So I took matters into my own hands and just got a trial subscription and tested it. The short story is that Office365 online version does work with Linux running Chrome version 35.

But the story doesn’t end there. If you are just a standard user and you just want to write documents then you don’t need an Office 365 subscription, you can use it for free on with office online (https://office.com/start/default.aspx)  IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME THING

I thought that paying the $100+ per year actually got you additional features that aren’t available with the free office online version; but no, it is exactly the same crippled, feature lacking version.

Office online  (in particular Word online), you cant add a contents page, you can references, in fact there is a HEAP of things that you can not do in Office 365 online. read here (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/word-online-service-description.aspx) about what it can and cant do.

So save your dollars and just use the free version, the only caveat is that you will need a Microsoft account. but you can sign up for a free account at outlook.com