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SuSE Linux will run Microsoft Office
PizzaFace writes "SuSE Linux is developing a desktop Linux distribution that will allow Windows users to continue using (some of) their Windows applications, including Microsoft Office. The SuSE Linux Office Desktop will be available for $129 in January, and will include Acronis OS Selector for disk partitioning during installation and Codeweavers CrossOver Office for Windows API emulation."
Half of my engineers just switched to Linux plus StarOffice for their day-to-day communications. So far, so good. If these emulators get good enough to run OrCAD, Modelsim, and the FPGA development packages, then we can lose Windows completely from our R&D operation.
It's not exactly earth shattering news. Whats next? Slashdot reporting that that distibution Blah is going to come with WINE already pre-installed?
Or am I missing something major entirely?
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It should be interesting to see how Lindows handles a vetran like SuSE entering this turf. However, should be good for the end user.
IMO, SuSE should do well. They have been much more OS than Lindows, and so they don't have to worry about all the bad press.
Jason Lotito
It is sad, but this is probably the best way to get into the desktop business. The ability to run Office is often a requirement when companies aquire OSs.
It seems that they have realized that the transition has to be smooth "SuSE Linux Office Desktop combines the technology and user-friendliness of SuSE Linux 8.1 with proven tools that facilitate the migration from Windows operating systems and applications".
And the biggest advantage of this solution is also brought up the the press release: "SuSE Linux Office Desktop seamlessly enables the continued use of existing data".
The Linux distros must realize (and seems to have realized) that the average desktop user does not care for open source or extra choices. The average user simply wants a productive desktop that is easy to use and works they way they expect it to.
How many geeks are going to buy a desktop OS? None. How many people want to try Linux but can't give up their Office(tm)? Suse apparently is banking on lots.
This is not for geeks. Maybe for geeks-in-training, but not for geeks!
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
I've been using Open Office for at least a Year with no problems, but then again I don't use.
Visio, Outlook or Access.
Visio is just painfull, so I suppose it's a good thing that there isn't a Free Visio-a-like.
Outlook is fairly intergrated and complete, all Linux equivelents I've tried so far fall short.
Access is handy for small DB needs, it's crap but still quite widley used because it's easy. I have a Free port of Access for Linux underway and expect to have a Open-Office Db driver shortly.
Anything anyone else would 'miss' from the Office Suite?
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
I wonder how Microsoft is going to respond to this one... Earlier today I learned that Microsoft is trying to force users to upgrade their OS with Office 11... This is an option they obviously would not like their users to have.
.: Max Romantschuk
That said, no it's not for everybody. But a lot of users (especially corporations) will find it useful if it is preconfigured so that installing and using Win32 apps is easily and fast done.
The 'just download package X' syndrome is one of the main barriers for simple folk using Linux.
Actually, even for experienced users, it's a relief when we get something like Debian's apt.
What SuSE are doing here is to provide a distro that will run MS-Office with no tuning or tweaking or HOWTOs.
This is at once banal, and important. Seamless compatability with Microsoft products is a key tool in the fight to move users off Windows.
And this news is a sign that SuSE have understood this. That's worth saying.
(Just to give another example, we spent several days trying to make Oracle 9i work with Debian, and RedHat, and finally tried SuSE... it came with the necessary (trivial) user accounts preconfigured, and Oracle 9i installed and ran almost at once.
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...now I can finally run NortonAV on my Linux box too. (or was that 'have too')
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No it doesn't need Windows, otherwise there wouldn't be much point. The whole purpose of Wine and its derivatives is that you can run Windows applications without having the OS installed.
> Windows won't be killed since, AFAIK, it must be installed for Suse/Crossover to work.
No, it doesn't. Crossover Office works just fine without a real Windows installation.
The office alternatives are good for many uses but not always 100% compatable. Then there is the retraining costs as well. Lastly, when it comes right down to it, Office is not a terrible program at all. It does what it was designed to do (insert your pun about virii here if you must) and it does it well. Nor have I had any stability issues with it in a good long time.
tinfoilmedia
I'd say that it is for most users. Not many users want to have to fiddle with the OS, install extra packages etc. just to get it working properly. I'd say that the vast majority wants computers to be easier and force less choices (thus reducing complexity). I'm not saying that the choice should be removed, simply intelligently set from the start and easy to modify and well documented.
I'm surprised this isn't on the /. main page already!
Probably nothing new other than it's a major announcement, and I bet redhat are closely watching this one. Seriously now, isn't this a big kick in the face? What about OpenOffice, AbiWord etc? The only reason I've ever needed WORD is because some moron wrote something and sent it over in a .doc file or .ppt. I think the real answer is for the justice dept to force m$ to open up there document formats.
Analytic & algebraic topology of locally Euclidean meterization of infinitely differentiable Riemmanian manifold
And of course Xandros is based on Debian, which I hear has a package management system that is the cats ass.
no it wont... as you are still tied to the damned micorsoft EULAS and how much you want to bet that the next eula down the pipe will say "you are not allowed to run this on any operating system other than one made by microsoft" thus making you instantly a free target for the BSA Blackmail squad.
The only way out is linux+evolution+Open Office.org..
a combination that doesn't tie your companies head to a boulder like microsoft does.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Are codeweavers still going to fold back in their work for getting this to work into the orginal wine code?
Or have they changed their minds and decided to keep all this cool stuff to themselves, much as others have been doing lately..
MSOffice ablity isnt worth that sort of cost to me personally ( startoffice/Koffice does fine for what i need ), but if its folded back into the open code, then its worthwhile.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Just keep piling on that proprietary code into the core of your distro. We all know thats the key to making the linux desktop successful. Just keep adding more and more proprietary code until you've created another windows.
Hell the GPL just exists so that companies can pay lip service anyway. Right? I mean that's the trend now. Make your distro mostly GPL and then tack on some proprietary stuff?
Everyones doing it, so it MUST be the right thing to do.
I can't wait until every linux distro is in some small way proprietary! Won't that be great! After all it IS how linux made its name.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
I'm just your average slashdot reader, and I am getting confused myself about which product does what. I don't think your average joe at company X stands a chance of deciding upon which linux/office/ combination to go for, especially since we will see this market expanding even further. Also, am I the first one to see this, but what price advantage is $139 compared to a an XP licence in the business world? (After all you don't get fired for buying M$). There just needs to be something more to make a company go for the KILLER LINUX DESKTOP and this is MARKET DIFFERENTIATION
So what is to stop microsoft from slipping something into the EULA prohibiting Office 11 from being used on a "potentially viral" GPLed OS?
My rights don't need management.
If running Microsoft Office on Linux is such a requirement, why is there no effort to run Mac OS X applications on Linux?
Microsoft Office X is far nicer then office 2000/XP and can read all these file formats. Microsoft make good money out of this port so aren't going to stop producing it any time soon. Because Microsoft don't own the underlying OS they are restricted in the number of changes they can make to Office X to break emulator compatability, unlike with WINE.
Yet OS X is based on Free BSD, so a binary compatability layer should be far easier than emulating Microsoft Windows. I realise this wouldn't give us Visio and possibly not Access, but I would take this option up long before running a heavyweight WINE install on my box, plus we would get the nice Mac plugins which ae generally every bit as good as their Windows versions.
OK, so here's the selling proposition:
For $129 I can get an OS that runs Office (but doesn't include it, as far as I can see) and which possibly runs other Windows apps, and which definitely runs Linux apps.
Or, for much less than $129 I can get an OS (Windows XP), that absolutely runs MS Office and which definitely runs vrtually all other Windows apps.
Linux is useful and fun for us nerds, but is a bit of a sell to non-nerds, and I don't see the above selling proposition as favoring SUSE for desktop applications -- Linux has no inherent appeal to non-nerds.
If one really wants or needs to run MS Office, XP makes sense. If one wants Linux on the desktop, I'd go with Redhat 8.0 (with its out-of-the-box non-sucking fonts, except in Mozilla) along with Open Office (excellent free replacement for MS Office) and other software that is designed for Linux use.
Maybe. Does anyone else remember IBM OS/2? Excellent Windows compatibility was included all the way to OS/2 Warp and yet it didn't turn out to be the Windows killer.
IMHO, the inclusion of emulation layers is the first sign that your system is somehow incomplete or incapable. For that matter, take a look at the entire NT architecture -- the foundation of the Microsoft system is emulation. It can be an OS/2 machine, Win16 or even -gasp- NT....
It could be a nice tool for attracting users with applications that currently only run on Win32, but I'm not sure MS Office is the best example of this. The real issues are going to be legacy apps without Linux counterparts (client/server programs that require ODBC/OLEDB, accounting software, POS, etc.), especially those that support an existing database or proprietary firmware devices. If Crossover can successfully support these, then I think it will have done it's job.
Meanwhile, for those considering a move to Linux they should take a good look at OpenOffice, KOffice, AbiWord and any of the other myriad authoring solutions for UNIX (Emacs, TeX, etc.)
Eric Sarjeant
eric[@]sarjeant.com
While it doesn't have some of the features and templates that Visio does, Dia is a free (GPL) alternative.
Who said Freedom was Fair?
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
OK then...just find me full-featured replacements for:
- Quicken (UK)
- Cubase Audio
- Premier
- Acrobat (full thing, not the reader)
- Exchange Server (calendaring, LDAP/IMAP does rest)
and I'll agree. Got any? The Ksomethingorother Quicken-a-like isn't there yet, neither is GnuCash. Cubase Audio? Hmm. Premier? Nope. Acrobat? Not that I'm aware of, though I imagine this has the best chance of having an equivalent. Exchange Server? Nope, that's why the Kroupware project exists.Nope, sorry. I play zero PC-based games, and I still need Windows. Not even a Mac will do - still no UK version of Quicken (my constant cry...).
Cheers,
Ian
...I have a lot of Word documents with macro viruses. Will these run properly on SuSe?
There's a non-Wndows OS that has been allowing you to run Office for some time now. It's called OS X.
www.sourceforge.net/projects/haccess
Sourceforge site is a bit outof date, so mail me (at the sourceforge email address) if you want a copy/assistance
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
Who doesn't have an old Windows 9X disk sitting around.
Who can still find his or her old Windows 98se or ME disc? And who can find one that isn't scratched so bad it's unreadable?
For a home user Windows XP might as well just be $99.
It appears that unlike Microsoft's Windows XP Professional operating system, Microsoft's Windows XP Home Edition operating system will not work well with Intel's newest Pentium brand processor. The new CPU has a "hyperthreading" feature that lets two threads share one set of datapaths, for performance that lies somewhere between one CPU and two. It appears as two processors to the operating system, but XP Home supports only one logical processor, unlike XP Pro which supports two. XP Home also does not support a remote desktop similar to that of XP Pro or any X11 based system.
And if you are buying a PC and plan to use Windows anyway why not buy it with the machine and get the benefit of the OEM price.
With the OEM discount, the price of Windows XP Professional comes down to about $141 per seat (based on this 3-pack). If Walmart.com were to sell the $200 PCs with Windows XP installed, the price would rise to $340, and the Windows license would make up over 40 percent of the price of the computer.
Will I retire or break 10K?
A good answer. Yes, that's the actual solution to the problem.
The trouble is...when? I have a full time job, a two and half hour each way commute and a nine month-old daughter to look after.
So whilst I accept your point completely, it's simply not practical for me. That's why I'm prepared to pay Intuit for Quicken - it's my time versus their costs. My time is more rare.
Cheers,
Ian
Why are these linux distrobutions doing this? It seems every day we hear about another linux distro including some form of Wine to allow people to keep using license encumbered bad software (mostly MS Office). I am thankful that Redhat has not done this (I run Redhat 8.0) but has instead chosen to include OpenOffice.org a great office suite that I have had no problem importing and exporting (rather complicated stuff even) from Office97-XP formats. Please, all of you that happen to head up some linux distro....DON'T DO THIS!!! Support the better open standard!
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The Windows Media Player has a EULA which requires you to "have a license to a qualifying microsoft operating system". This issue has come up with the codeweavers crossover product:
Nothing prevents Microsoft from doing the same thing with the Office 11 EULA.
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