I am helping to set up a laptop for someone with very limited computer abilities, we’ve decided on Fedora (hooray! 
)
One problem is they need to use MS Word. It doesn’t matter which version, I have an old install disc for MS Office 2003 which would be perfectly fine.
The question is, is it possible?
I did a bit of online research and found mention of something called “PlayOnLinux”. I have never heard of it before. I have used Wine before myself but this needs to be totally seamless for the user (once set up by me), so they can just hit an icon and be using MS Word.
Has anyone any recommendations or thoughts on PlayOnLinux?
Thanks
1 Like
Do they really need MSWord? If you dont need cloud sync, modern Libreoffice likely has better compatibility than some outdated Office.
Also note that the method of running outdated software with likely unfixed security issues is very sick, just because software gets worse.
So, older versions of MSOffice are said to run okay in WINE. But newer versions try very hard not to.
I highly recommend to switch to Libreoffice, Writer is the best alternative in the MSOffice->Libreoffice transition. Calc lacks easy graphs, Impress is also very manual but really good.
But if you really want to (it will be hackier and more prone to breakages):
For running WINE Games I would recommend using Bottles, as it is really well sandboxed via Flatpak. But I dont think that is nice for Desktop integration, like opening documents with right click.
2 Likes
Added libreoffice, ms-office, wine
Thanks. I think it’s a yes, needs to be MS Word (older the better, last machine they used was Win7)
BUT… in light of your comments I’m gonna make double sure. I think I’ll install Writer and see if the changeover can be made. Very few functions are needed other than formatting text and saving/opening files. I’ll see if I can avoid the problem altogether.
Actually, since it’s very related, I have the same question for myself. A major problem. I REALLY need to run a program called iVMS-4200. Its a pretty nasty but functional chinese CCTV monitoring app. I’ve always run it on Mac as there’s Mac and Windows versions, no Linux version. Years ago I did actually find a Linux version written by some Russian programmers, and someone told me it does actually work, but it’s like gold dust to find! So… assuming i can’t find that (and I suspect running it would be unwise even if I can), I need to find a way to run the Windows/Mac version, ideally without a VM. I may come and add a new thread for that when I get around to actually trying to do it, but in case it belongs better on this thread, I’ve mentioned it anyway
thanks again
Bottles Is a good option for the MS Word, and many other programs.
4 Likes
Why?
LibreOffice does more than MSO 2003 ever did and LO Writer is very easy to use for word processing.
LO is installed by default on fedora workstation.
1 Like
The issue with MS Office 2003 is that, afaik, it doesn’t support the newer xml formats (*.docx etc), but only the old *.doc etc formats, which makes it less desirable for interoperability with other MS Office versions.
One could use LibreOffice and change its settings to always save files as *.docx, *xlsx.
And if, for whatever reason, one would need to use MS Office from time to time, there is always the option to use it in the cloud (office.com), even though it’s not the same experience.
1 Like
This is an EXTREMELY non-savvy user. Opening and saving a file took a while to learn, elderly, not computer literate, etc. That said, I am gonna give it a go as I think it looks just as easy to open and save a file in it, as for the rest, it’s just typing in a very basic way with a tiny bit of formatting.
Will give LW a shot first
Never heard of it, will definitely look into it, thanks
You are possibly breaking the Microsoft licensing conditions.
And LibreOffice can do every thing that Microsoft office can do including reading and writeing in Microsoft Word formats.
1 Like
Thanks but I know that. Whats at issue is not what LW can do, it’s what the user can do. I’ll get to the bottom of that and make 100% sure either way. thanks
Use the flatpak.
Running a flatpakked wine application will give you a hell more problems than learning how to save a file though.
Btw Libreoffice has a “register view” mode in the appearance settings, making its UI similar to MS Office. And unlike MS office you can add and remove any UI button you need, to have exactly the features you need / understand, and nothing else.
https://books.libreoffice.org/en/WG72/WG7221-UserInterfaceVariants.html
I think we are duplicating statements here
- wine ms office is way more complicated than libreoffice
- libreoffice can do way more than some old MS Office
- very old ms office didnt even support the open formats .docx and .odt yet, making it pretty unusable
- libreoffice writer is not hard to use, at all. Like not at all.
- running outdated software is a security risk, and you are likely breaking license stuff
A 20 year old version of MS Office is certain to break, is not supported by MS, and probably would encounter licensing issues. You cannot install MS O without also installing parts (or all) of Windows 98 or NT to support it.
Updates to software and improvements of LO over the years makes it much more user friendly than MS O ever was.
As noted, the ability to configure the interface to fit the users needs was never available for MS O in 2003, but is certainly there for current releases of LO.
1 Like