Overview

A major part of using Linux as a corporate desktop is achieving compatibility with the Microsoft Office tool suite. This chapter contains information on Linux tools that equate with Microsoft Office products such as Exchange, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, FrontPage, and Publisher. First, we will cover Linux-only solutions, then solutions using Wine, and, finally, VMware. We have also included in this chapter Visio and printing services for Windows-based network printers. While this chapter discusses many features of printing, we do not discuss its implementation; it is expected that the reader will have some knowledge of the CUPS or Berkeley Print subsystems.

When testing to see whether the available tools will work for your situation, it is best to have on hand a complex document of the appropriate type available to perform these tests. When I perform this test, I look for on-screen differences that will lead to formatting issues in any of the tools presented. For this test I used a dissertation document that includes images and complex templates; for PowerPoint, I included movies and other objects.

Even though this chapter appears to state mostly the limitations with Linux tools, it should not be interpreted as such. Linux tools will always be behind the development curve, since Microsoft is not assisting in this effort. Also, I should remind you that if you are using a homogenous Linux solution, these tools are not issues.

3.1 Word

One of the most widely used formats for document preparation and sharing is Microsoft...