Desktop Linux Applications?
Monday, September 21st, 2009 at
19:50
Can desktop linux operating systems like GNOME run microsoft software easily? Is it a hassle to do so? I’m getting a Dell computer for university this fall and I dont wanna use Vista but I still wanna use microsoft office among other things.
Tagged with: dell computer • gnome • hassle • Linux • Microsoft • microsoft office • microsoft software • operating systems
Filed under: Linux Applications
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First off GNOME is a window manager that creates a desktop environment. KDE is another, and both are generally available in most, if not all, Linux distributions. OpenOffice, and I think the current version is 3.0, can generally work with all of the Microsoft Office products, though some additional work is required to handle Office 2007 document formats (.docx, xml formatted extensions).
Linux also offers a package called WINE ( WINdows Emulator) and you can run Office 2007 there as well ( see the 2nd reference below)
BTW – most, if not all, colleges these days have software programs and can install the necessary Office products to support their classes on Windows and in some cases on Linux too. Check with the Campus bookstore at your college..
Update:
Cletus does make a good point about the use of VMware and/or dual-booting the laptop into Windows and Linux. However, unless you are reasonably skilled in operating systems, setting up dual-booting can be tricky and not so easy to maintain, and VMware does have some limitations, not to mention the extra cost. I understand your reluctance to embrace Vista – it’s not exactly a stellar replacement for Windows XP. Windows 7 seems a bit better, so I might suggest starting with Vista and the Office products, and upgrading to Windows 7 in the fall when it’s released. When you buy your laptop, ask if a free upgrade to Windows 7 will be offered, or available at a reduced cost. You may only have to suffer for a short time…
Ubuntu already comes with open office which is basically Microsoft office.
Use open office. i read that it was compatible with microsoft office.
google it.
we cant run microsoft softwares in linux
instead of microsoft office… use "openoffice". It is very similar and easy to learn. We always have a replacement for microsoft softwares in linux…
Most Linux distributions ("distros") ship with Open Office included. A project of Sun Microsystems, Open Office was always intended to be a substitute for Microsoft Office, and it’s free!
However, there may come times when you absolutely need to run Microsoft programs. For that, there’s WINE (a name that is a recursive joke: "Wine Is Not an Emulator"). Mind you, there are some real issues with trying to run Windows programs in an emulator, so WINE isn’t going to be the end-all and be-all. I use it (version 1.1.25) in Ubuntu 9.04 to run things like Password Safe, a Windows-only password utility. Even there I get odd behavior, but at least I’m able to maintain my password database.
Another option you can explore is to make your computer a dual-boot machine, so that at boot time you can choose to either run Vista or Linux. Again, most Linux distros include software that will install a boot loader for you as well as the partitioning software that will let you carve up your hard disk to run two different OSes.
Enjoy college!
Linux can’t run non-Linux applications native. You would need to run WINE to support some MS Windows based application or setup a VM environment or dual boot to run them. Another alternative would be to use alternative applications to those that only support Microsoft Windows. In the case of MS Office, take a look at Open Office or Google Docs.
If I may offer a suggestion. There are emulators that will run windoze software under linux. But what I would suggest is that you use a hypervisor like Xen or VMWare so you can run either operating system you want in a virtual window. That way you have the best of both worlds and none of the hassle that goes with "dual boot" or emulators.