Ms Office on linux
Ms Office on linux
I've been using LibreOffice but want to try running Microsoft Office on Linux. I installed Office 2016 with playwithlinux and everything seems to work, though I'm experiencing visual issues. Any suggestions on how to fix the glitches? I'm running on a recent Pop!_OS with hybrid AMD APU and NVIDIA GPU.
He uses the Office 365 web apps through electron apps he developed with nativefier. Running on Ubuntu 20.04, the setup works smoothly. Since he mainly needs Word, Excel, or PowerPoint for files stored in OneDrive folders, the constant online availability isn't crucial. His main goal is to prevent Word documents from getting lost when multiple tabs open in Chrome. It's not very efficient, but he’s seen better alternatives. When needed, he still uses insync to sync OneDrive data locally and works with LibreOffice.
There aren't any options to adjust the renderer settings in Wine or PlayWithLinux to fix these visual issues. It remains functional for documents, though the glitches are somewhat bothersome.
It's likely there is, but the adjustments you need might be specific to your device and software version. You're unlikely to discover them elsewhere, and most people won't have the details. Checking the PlayOnLinux discussion for Office 2016 could offer some clues, though it's uncertain. Visual issues in emulated setups are frequent and can be difficult to resolve.
VirtualBox stepped in to help. I haven't used real Windows in a while.
Microsoft Office has faced issues with Wine and isn't consistently dependable. Once popular, its support has largely faded after the rise of Office 365 Online and better alternatives like LibreOffice. If you're using Linux, consider LbreOffice (free), OnlyOffice (mixed open-source/proprietary, generally safe), WPS Office (proprietary, flagged as spyware), or Office 365 Online. Avoid relying on Wine for essential tools such as Steams Proton, Lutris, PlayOnLinux, etc.
Not worthwhile; many office suites resemble MS Office and work natively on Linux. Check out WPS Office, OpenOffice or Softmaker FreeOffice. In reality, MS Office is just another suite. For the future, steer clear of all Nvidia GPUs and go all-in on AMD.
i also noted in our conversation: yes, ms office functions well on linux with wine (the native versions). i experimented with the following ms office suites: wine versions tried for testing—(the newer wil should also work) wine : lutris-6.14-4 (available here: standalone lutris runners, if you prefer not to link it with the lutris app itself. i use it for the enhanced build in the toolkit). crossover 21.0.0 demo ms office 2010 plus (with visio): the wine (lutris) default installer is functional, activation succeeds, and everything runs smoothly as on windows (very stable, no crashes so far). all applications operate except skype, which is limited by its version—this was also verified during testing with crossover. the install is seamless, and custom menu options appear correctly for individual executables. ms office 2016 / 2019 pro plus: it uses the same office version underneath, offering a similar experience. wine(lutris) works, proton supports it, and crossover provides a smooth setup with custom installer options. i installed it in a clean virtual machine alongside vmware thinapp, activated it manually, and used the custom installer. testing with wine on linux succeeded, allowing exe execution and activation after installation. most programs function except one drive that fails to launch; i haven’t explored further since disabling windows activation was a priority. for ms office 365, i used the crossover demo (without an office license, so borrowed a key from a friend with a 4-pc subscription). it installed and worked properly, using the included installer. i downloaded the software via a browser extension from crossover (which spoofs the user agent). i checked a deployment on github, but haven’t tried it yet—seems promising if it supports regular wine too. i also tried adjusting the environment variables for wineserver and wineloader to match lutris wine settings, which helped in some cases.