OSX software on ubuntu? Office 2008 Mac

Hi, I have MS Office 2008 for Mac OSX and was wondering how i can install it on ubuntu. Is there something like wine for mac software? or would it just work since mac and linux are very much alike?

I also have the windows version of office 2007, but already tried to install it using wine and its a lot more complicated than i thought, it keeps giving me an error when i try to install it.

Thanks

 

You can run the Mac-on-Linux emulator, and then it may run an OSX application like Mac Office (it emulates PPC), or, as you state, run the Wine emulator, or the commercial CrossOver Linux emulator, and then run Windows Office.

Neither of those methods are worth the hassle, in my opinion. I suppose it depends on what you need. If it's a office application suite, (as opposed to Exchange server connectivity), you REALLY should run the native Linux open office suite. OpenOffice. Much, MUCH, nicer. (because it's open..)

If you really need Windows application support, (and not gaming), it might be cleaner to run them in a virtual server environment, like VirtualBox.

Good Luck..

 

well ive tried open office in the past... and it just wasnt working out well for me.
I write a ton of papers and am very familiar and like office. I couldnt get wine to work, and ill look into crossover linux. But first ill look into the mac-on-linux, thanks for the tip.

 

If you don't want to spend the time learning and configuring OpenOffice to work for your needs, I would strongly recommend you do not go the emulation route. Just load Windows in a virtual server, and run Office there. You'll experience much less frustration.

Good Luck..

 

OK, ill look into that virtualbox then, but... i dont really get it? whats the difference between this and something like wine or mac-on-linux?

Do i still install the program, etc?

 

The difference is that the entire Windows OS is run, which ensures that it will work. The only downside of virtualization is that you can't play games, whereas in some cases, Wine can. For Office though, virtualization is a great solution. It is possible to run Office in Wine though.

 

oh i see, so i am actually running windows inside of ubuntu... How does that affect performance for both linux and windows while its running?
I tried to install office through wine. but it just gave me an error and wouldnt open the setup file.

I dont care for playing games. so what do you think would be the best solution overall, performance, reliability, and hdd space?

 

If you don't game, then a virtual machine is the best option hands down. It always works. You should use VirtualBox for the virtualization, as it's free. It has something called seamless mode, where the virtual machine is not confined to a window inside Linux. Rather, the Windows taskbar appears on your screen as if you were running it natively, and the applications show up in invidual windows that can be moved around the screen.

You will need to have a decent amount of RAM though. I would suggest 1 GB, so you can give 256 - 512 MB to XP. It won't really affect performance too much. I've virtualized on a 3 GHz Pentium D and a 2 GHz Core 2 Duo without any problems, so a CPU somewhere around there should be fine. Depending on how many programs you install in the virtual machine, you will need anywhere from 4 - 20 GB of space for it, but probably not more than 20.

 

Is it something that is always on and running when i boot up my machine? or can i start it just when i need to use a windows app?

 

VMs tend to be resource-consuming, so it's best to run them only when you need them. However, they are very easy to set up and use, and are quite snappy.

 

Even office 2k7 running on wine has big issues like random crash and format inconsistency. I would do vbox and run windows + office, more reliable and you can use it without network connections...

 

Yeah, I run Office 2007 in VirtualBox...when is MS going to port that over to Linux? lol

 

lol. that would be nice.

maybe u can help me out. im trying to install XP on the virtual box, but i get this error

What do i do?

EDIT TO ADD:
I also get this when i click on settings

i click ok, then it brings me to the settings options. dont know if its a bad thing or not.

 

You have to be a member of the vboxusers group to use VirtualBox.

Code:

$ sudo gpasswd -a $USERNAME vboxusers

Of course, replace $USERNAME with your own.

 

Do i have to do that each time? or is that a permanent fix?

Some things i just dont understand with ubuntu. How would the average person know to do this? I am the only user on this computer, so shouldnt my username be the administrator with all privlidges?

 

Im getting this output when i enter that code

 

I'm sorry, but...

Wine Is Not an Emulator.

Oh, and to make this post useful...

try: sudo gpasswd -a james vboxusers

 

Great thanks, that worked.

But now, when i open the machine and it loads to windows xp setup... its not detecting any input from my keyboard. it has the host key set to Right Ctrl, but its on auto detect... anyone else have this problem?
All i need to do is press c to create partition or enter to install.

 

Solved keyboard problem. i guess it had somehting to do with SCIM... found here answer http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=747179

 

aerowinged, I must say your experience with ubuntu has caused a lot of problems. Most of which would only happen in a worst case scenario as modern distro's like ubuntu, fedora, sabayon, pclinuxos have the user do nothing ....and everything works out of the box.

Its for that reason I congratulate you for sticking with linux for a while, solving the issues, posting for help and posting your findings. Not a lot of people do this...for them its a hit or miss.

Good Job !

 

Yes, aerowinged deserves major kudos for staying with it even when faced with challenges from which many others would have shrunk. Though I believe jas should get a pat on the back as well for giving such thorough and comprehensive posts.

 

Yes, Jas has always been helpful in these forums.

 

Yeah, well once u spend some time with it, you really do realize that it is superior. But in all fairness, i tried feisty about 1 1/2 to 2 years ago (same computer), and did give up Back then i spent a couple months and couldnt get some of the same issues i have now resolved. The biggest being cpu scaling. without that portability is useless.

This time there is no turning back. thanks to everyone's help, and jaz for knowhow on cpu tweaks and things.

Im still not without issues though. lol. just been really busy lately. you can be sure ill have some posts trying to fix
webcam
memory card reader
bluetooth

thanks!