Linux and MS Office

[Black Falcon 921]

I was just wondering will MS Ofice will work in Linux. I Am thinking about putting Linux on a ps3 and learning more about it. I like the idea of open source.

 

[Kharn]

Well most of the Office file extensions are supported by Open Office the only one I am aware of the will not work with Open office is the .docx extention but because Open Office is open source people have made a patch that allows you to read write an modify .docx files.

 

[Nitestick]

i'm not sure about the current version but i know previous versions have run in WINE, check out the AppDB at Wine Application DB - Wine Application Database

personally though, i use OpenOffice 100% of the time!

 

[Kharn]

As do I, I love the export as a PDF feature that is so handy.

 

[Nitestick]

give linux a try. honestly though you won't get much of an experience running linux in the PS3's Hypervisor. at a minimum i suggest giving a live disc distro a try on your pc. maybe you can find an old hard drive to try it on?

 

[Kharn]

A live CD is the best way to try linux but be warned that sometimes functionality is limited.

 

[Brinson]

For word processing, OpenOffice is as good (or better) as word. Its versions of excel and powerpoint are not as full featured, though. There is also koffice. I have not used it much, but hear its version of excel is better.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

OpenOffice reads most Microsoft formats pretty well. I use OpenOffice for all my school work, and use MS Office 2k3 at school.

You should also be able to run MS Office in Wine, I've seen it done before.

However, if you plan on only using it on your PS3, then forget about the Wine thing. Wine only works on x86 processors (because Windows code is x86 code, obviously) and the PS3 is (I think) PowerPC or a custom architecture (I don't own a PS3). You'll probably still get OpenOffice because it has source code that can be ported and recompiled on different platforms.

Now, all you have to worry about is a keyboard cause I wouldn't want to do my English homework on a PS3 if I only had a controller.

 

[Black Falcon 921]

Thanks for the info I found an old hard drive ill stick it in and try it one my pc first. I just wanted to make sure that there was some sort of office softrare that was pretty good before I even gave it a try.

 

[Nitestick]

then why didn't you just ask . OpenOffice is perfectly capable free software, it will do all the basic stuff (and most of the advanced stuff) you need from office. it even has nifty features office doesn't. give it a crack and your welcome to PM me if you run into trouble.