OS One-Percenter:Need Microsoft Office07 in Linux?

Gnu/Linux is a computer operating system (OS) like Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X. For the last 2 years, I have been using Mint 9 LTS "Isadora" GNOME which combines the power, stability and cost-savings of Gnu with a familiar, easy-to-use desktop environment. It came with everything I needed to browse the Internet, instant message, e-mail, and share and write documents, work with digital photos, listen to music, play games and much more.

Yes, most the world windows. One of Windows' biggest advantages is the large collection of commercial applications that are exclusive to that platform. The free Gnu/Linux alternative might not be as eye popping or as well-known as the commercial package, and some aspects of the program might not be as polished, but in many cases will get the job done.

CrossOver XI

A program that many may need is MS office. Love it or hate it, the fact is that Microsoft’s suite of office software is a necessary part of many people’s work life. Microsoft at this time will not make a version that will run on Mint. They will one day give them time. I won’t be part of the One percent forever; two percent soon. Until then there is CrossOver Linux 11 (formerly known as CrossOver Office)

Starting at $39.95, CrossOver XI is a very cheap way to get MS office to run Linux. CrossOver XI does not require you to purchase Windows 7. You can install Office 97, 2000, 2003, XP, and 2007. CrossOver XI also introduces official support for Microsoft Office 2010. .NET Frameworks from 1.1 to 3.5 is now supported too. Word and Excel 2010 are working perfectly, at this time PowerPoint 2010 not so much.

All I did was open Crossover Linux form Applications > CrossOver > Install Windows Software. Next I placed the CD then select the option of CD ROM Then browsed to the place where media is situated. Hit Next. After CrossOverl creates a new bottle it will start the installation of various fonts and msxml3.exe along

with office.

Microsoft Word 2007

You will find all the MS Office programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc under Applications > Windows Applications > Microsoft Office. It integrates properly with GNOME so that office will run seamlessly in the Mint 9 environment.

Side note: Crossover is currently a 32-bit application, and it cannot support 64-bit windows apps. Also not all Windows programs will run perfectly. Most won't even run at all, although many of them will at least install.

Microsoft PowerPoint 2007

At Bestbuy you will have to drop down a cool 149.99 For Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007. Too rich for your blood? Try LibreOffice. It combines word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation tools similar to the Microsoft Office suite. While LibreOffice today may not be a 100 percent, feature-for-feature match with Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007,but its strong interoperability with Office file formats, combined with the fact its free, making it the best alternative for people that need only basic capabilities. Again its Free.

Global (Nuclear) Patent War

I don’t normally talk about what’s going on in the world of Apple, but since they have attacked the nexus with patent lawsuits, I just thought I would note a few things. I remember once Steve Ballmer once described Linux as a "cancer". They (Microsoft Inc) were always claiming Gnu/Linux stole from them.

Now Apple is claiming Goggle stole the unified search also known as Apple’s '604 Siri patent from them. Apple's voice-activated search function that gathers information from Wikipedia, Yahoo,Wolfram Alpha and you guessed it Google. Without trial Apple was just awarded an injunction on the Galaxy Nexus because of the infringement claim. For a time the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was not even available via the Google Play Store and was deemed as “Coming Soon.” That was messed up especially after Google just dropped the price on the device to $349.99. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday issued a temporary stay of the ban on the Galaxy Nexus until Apple responds on July 12. Notice of the order was posted on the court’s website.

Here is the crazy thing. Something called Zhizhen Network Technology say that Apple’s Siri voice assistant infringes on their Xiaoi voice assistant. Siri, which uses voice recognition technology from Nuance, was acquired by Apple in 2010. I'm not sure how true Zhizhen's claim is, but its just hard for any software developer to find out whether they might be infringing someone else's patents. People are often coming up with the same ideas all the time. The cost of defending against a patent infringement is around $2 million before trial even starts, and millions more for a complete defense, even when successful.

While Microsoft hasn't formally rescinded its declaration that Linux violates its patents and is cancer. They seem at have backed off the craziness. Microsoft ranked at number 17 on the list of Linux 2.6.36 contributing companies.