VeeDubb Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 I'm trying to get Office XP instaled on linux with either Wine or WineX3.1. If I can do this, (without buying cross-over office) then my girlfirend will let me migrate her laptop form windows to linux. i know it works with codeweavers, but I don't have the bread right now. So, unless somebody has a proper lisence that they don't want anymore, I'm stuck with wine or winex. Yes, I know OpenOffice is 96% compatible with MS office, but she's not okay with 96% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjc Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Are you or your GF students? It may qualify you for Star Office 7.0 from SUN (academic downlaod). Personally I like it more that OO (then I am at a University and qualify for the "free DL") but htere is something that just feels better with SO. Then, maybe it's just the chemicals getting to my brain... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeeDubb Posted November 11, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Yes, we are college students, but she isn't willing to try linux iwth SO either. It's a Office XP or no linux kind of deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 have you tried using either? if so, have you gotten any errors? if not, why not? ;) if you want help you gotta have a question :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phunni Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 (edited) Wine is realistically your only option here if you want to use Linux. CrossOver office essentially uses wine anyway. Even under wine you will not find things working perfectly (Outlook is likely to get upset) so you may find that, if she is that unmovable on the issue, then windows it is... Edited November 11, 2003 by phunni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emh Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 It does make me wonder what Office XP does that Open Office or Star Office can't do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitz Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 It does make me wonder what Office XP does that Open Office or Star Office can't do. It's generally not a question of what it can't do but rather what it does differently. People like to use what they know how to use. In a similar manner, file converters like to convert what they know how to convert. Luckily, most people probably only use about 5% of a word processors features, generally it isn't a problem to switch as long as the other package has those 5% as well. The problems usually only set in when people try to be too clever for their own good and use features just because they're in there. They end up using some really obscure feature that they don't need to use and end up breaking the document once it is imported elsewhere. Glitz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phunni Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 There are also times when only XP will do. For example - I have to develop a lot of training material. This must be (usually) in powerpoint format. I could do the work in star office or open office, but I can't guaruntee that the converters will work 100% I can't possibly submit some work for which I am being paid unless I can be certain it will display properly for my clients - I therefore use powerpoint only for these jobs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Unfortunately, this is how Windows keeps going. The SO converters aren't 100% BUT neither are the various versions of Powerpoint either. Its a shame but really what else can you do, expept perhaps give them a PDF (as well) and try and convince them they should keep the PDf as the reference copy so they know that it will display exactly the same in 5 years time!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emh Posted November 12, 2003 Report Share Posted November 12, 2003 You could also use the export to flash option in Open/Star Office. Then it would definitely work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted November 12, 2003 Report Share Posted November 12, 2003 I think it is more of interface thing. Unlike a browser, interface to office software can be somewhat intimidating. I screamed bloody murder when I found that Office 2k have the "hide menu" feature which (even until now) I don't know how to disable. It took me a couple of weeks to get used to OpenOffice interface after using MS Office 2k for years. Maybe your gf is so used to Office XP interface that she cannot use anything else (even older version of Office). However, if it is not, then I wonder what's so great about Office XP that OpenOffice cannot replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeeDubb Posted November 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2003 It's not anything that XP does so wonderfuly, it's that she works on a lot of highly formated documents, under fairly strict sets of constraints on said formatting. The problem is that the filters that let OO/SO read and write to MS office formats are only about 98% so it causes problems when going back and forth between the home computer and theones at school. For most people, myself included, that 98% is more than enough and we never notice the differnce. However, when 1/3 of the effort in a paper is formatting and it has to be 'just so' a 2% difference can mean lines carrying over on to different pages, and color information getting lost all together. So it's a matter of intera=operability with what she must use at the campus computer lab. As for my specific errors, I didn't post them because I asuemd that this was something that others had encountered. A 'stock' problem if you will. I will post my errors later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted November 14, 2003 Report Share Posted November 14, 2003 YOu say OOo will have osmehting like 96% compat. But Office XP will be more unstable htan normal (which is flaky) and not all of it's features will work. Office XP in IWne would be less than 95% compat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phunni Posted November 14, 2003 Report Share Posted November 14, 2003 (edited) I'm afraid that's not true - the comaptibility is still 100% and the stability isn't actually bad at all... or at least 99.999 % Edited November 14, 2003 by phunni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlJF Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 Here's my 2 cents: First, according to Codeweavers Office XP isn't supported with Crossover Office. In fact, not one version of MS-Office is fully supported (Word, Excel, PowerPint, Access, Frontpage, Outlook, Publisher...). Second, Crossover Office cost 59.99$. OfficeXP already cost you at least a few hundreds dollars. Considering this, buying crossover office will not cost you much more... Third, if your main goal is to use MS-Office, just stick with Windows. It doesn't make much sense to install Linux to use MS apps designed to run under Windows. In the same way as it will not make any sense to install Windows because you want to run UNIX or Mac applications... Simply put, if you want to use Linux, you're much better to start using OO or any other software that works natively under Linux. It may sounds harsh, but it's only a question of being logical: run Windows apps under Windows, and run Linux apps under Linux... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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