The other big deal is that an Official app means a lot more when talking to some management people. "We are using Microsoft software to talk to Microsoft software" is a pretty easy statement. Also, if you work at one of those places that have approved vendors[1] then this is great.
1) did that once, oh my but it was more bureaucratic than some government agencies
Now if they can do this in Linux, then I can use Mint or Ubuntu 100% and access my email without having to open my company device... just keep it handy.
You can use any number of remote desktop front ends for Mint/Ubuntu...rdesktop for starters. Beyond that, if your company's mail server is a recent version of exchange, or even MS's office365 service, you should be able to configure your email client of choice.
1) did that once, oh my but it was more bureaucratic than some government agencies