Crossing over to Linux
CrossOver Office lets users work with familiar MS apps on lower-cost Linux desktops, but with a small performance hit
MANY BUSINESSES TODAY are examining the possibility of employing Linux-based desktop systems. Because Linux has a reputation for excellent stability and very low cost, it is an attractive notion to many organizations. But those investigations frequently hit a sticking point very early on. The question, “Where do I find Microsoft Office for Linux?” quickly develops into a major issue. There are alternatives, such as the OpenOffice project or StarOffice, but there is no native port of the Microsoft Office suite on Linux.
Into this void comes CrossOver Office. A new product from CodeWeavers, CrossOver Office V1.0.0 allows you to install Office on your Linux box. Organizations seeking alternatives to Windows could find CrossOver Office to be just the ticket for exploring the stability and lower cost associated with Linux desktop machines.
Installation is simple, although we did hit a couple of glitches. We tried to install the software on three different machines: a 750MHz AMD Duron running Mandrake 7.1, a 1GHz AMD Athlon running Mandrake 7.2, and a 166MHz Pentium running Mandrake 8.1. The installation wouldn’t work on the Mandrake 7.1 system, apparently due to a bad font already on the machine. The CodeWeavers Web page describes a way to diagnose and correct this problem.
On the other machines, the installation was straightforward. It was even possible to install the software without system administrator privileges, although doing so restricts the availability of the software to the user performing the installation. This is the method of installation which CodeWeavers currently recommends.
After installing CrossOver Office, you need to install a version of Office 97, Office 2000, or Lotus Notes. The installation process bogged down at times for no apparent reason, but the job eventually finished. We just had to be patient. Note that the current version of CrossOver Office does not support Office XP; CodeWeavers is working toward supporting it in the future.
Once CrossOver Office is installed, you will find that the standard Office applications will be available. With Office 2000 Standard, this amounts to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, IE (Internet Explorer), Outlook, and even Notepad. A notice on the CD explains there are some known visual glitches with Outlook and bugs in IE. If you install Office 2000 Professional, you will also be able to install Access, although CodeWeavers warns it is buggy as well. The company advises that users disable Clippy, the Office Assistant, due to bugs. We don’t anticipate many mourners at that graveside.
Using Office products under CrossOver Office is just like using them under Windows. The work of CrossOver Office is transparent to the user; zero training required. You merely select the Office application you want from the KDE (K Desktop Environment) or Gnome menu and you are soon faced with the very same application you would expect to see under Windows.
CrossOver Office makes use of Wine, an open-source project to implement the Windows APIs under Linux. CodeWeavers has been a significant contributor to Wine, and the CrossOver product shows how the company intends to make revenue off its investment. This is precisely the result that many people who have followed Wine’s maturation over the years desired but were afraid might never occur.
Although the software works, there are a few sticking points. The installed programs perform a little more slowly than they do under Windows. But the drag is not large, and most current machines have horsepower to spare anyway. Even on a lowly Pentium 166, the Office products tested were all usable, if sluggish at times.
In our testing, we found no serious flaws while using the Office programs. We did, however, find occasional glitches that could annoy nontechnical users. For example, on the Mandrake 7.2 computer only, selecting Open in the Word File menu would bring up the appropriate pop-up window, but underneath the main Word window.
It should also be noted that although CrossOver Office does an excellent job of simulating the Windows directory structure, users who also use native Linux applications will be exposed to both file structures. Native Linux applications will have folders such as /home/fred instead of C: WindowsDesktop.
In its current state, CrossOver Office is a very useful tool for Linux users in an organization employing Office files. For offices looking to migrate to Linux desktops, CrossOver Office could be a fabulous tool, but you might want to wait for the next minor release or two so that some of the final glitches will be ironed out. It may not be time to start the mass migration, but it could be time to start planning it.
