Microsoft Office for *nix

Hamish Taylor
Tuesday, 28 October 2008 10:33

Opinion and Analysis

I registered on the site, downloaded their software, wiped off my Microsoft Office 2003 CD and took it all for a spin. The installation of CrossoverOffice couldn't have been simpler. The website identified me a user of Ubuntu 32-bit and directed me to the correct download.

The download was a 23MB .deb file which I downloaded to my desktop. I then double-clicked on it and installed it which took about 1-2 minutes. Then going to the Applications menu I was able to select Crossover, then Install Windows Software. I selected Microsoft Office 2003 from the list and installed it.

I inserted the CD and followed the install prompts. I selected the components I wanted (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and it took care of all the rest. It is the installer you always see when installing Office 2003 so it will be familiar to anyone who has done this before.

The only thing that I can recommend is that you wait a long time for it to complete. My system is quite slow so and I had to resist the temptation to hit the button telling CrossoverOffice that it was all done, but maybe that's just me!

When it was actually all completed, it gave a message saying that it was "Simulating a Windows reboot" which I thought was just hilarious! I was then able to go back into the setup and install Office 2003 Service Pack 3, which downloaded from the Internet and installed without a hitch.

Whilst I have only tested Word and Outlook so far, just having the ability to run these at all is quite amazing.

One other thing to consider is this: if you get a Virus or Trojan through Outlook or Word or Excel Macro virus or whatever, it cannot do the underlying system any harm as it is not Windows! This is not to say go and randomly open everything sent to you, but it is one more level of security to consider.

CrossoverOffice gives those absolutely tethered to Microsoft or third-party Windows products one less reason to stay with Windows.

Currently it is available for nothing (usually $39.95) but you'd better be quick!

As always, please leave feedback, comments and questions. However, I will only respond to comments left on iTWire article discussion forums. The direct link for this article is here .