[Techtalk] Report on CrossOver Office

L J Laubenheimer ljl at rahul.net
Tue Jun 18 11:26:25 EST 2002


Malke,

Can I post this as a software review??  Or do you want to format/change it first 
for web posting?

					Linda

Marian Routh wrote:

> Hi - Several list members expressed an interest in a report on my 
> experience with CrossOver Office, so here it is.  I've taken you all at 
> your word that you really want to hear this, so this report is a big 
> long.
> 
> Specs on this box: Athlon Tbird 1.2GHz, 512 SDRAM, dual boot w/WinXP, 
> SuSE 8.0, KDE 3.0.1.  SuSE is very stable and wonderful.
> 
> Ordered CXOffice 1.10 on CD because I thought it would have a bit of 
> printed material, but it didn't, just the CD.  A mild disappointment, 
> but no big.
> 
> Installed as user (as opposed to root) since I'm the only one on this 
> box.  Printed out installation instructions and followed them.  
> Instructions were written very clearly and completely, and installation 
> was easy.  I only installed MS Office 2000 - Word, Excel, and Outlook.  
> You have to have IE 5.0 at least, so I went with the standard install 
> of it.
> 
> I had some problems with the first installation.  Word and Excel opened 
> fine, but Outlook crashed and then would never open again.  Word and 
> Excel opened, but were frozen.  I uninstalled the whole shebang and 
> reinstalled.  Everything worked.
> 
> Issues with Word and Excel - They seem to work great, I just can't get 
> my stuff to print in color.  I'm working with CodeWeavers tech support 
> on that.  I had some configuration questions; i.e., where to put my 
> custom templates, and tech support quickly solved that.
> 
> Issues with Outlook - Outlook is still too fragile for reliability.  It 
> says it can't import my Calendar backup file and quits the import with 
> an error message, however it looks like my Calendar entries are in 
> there.  Normally, I would backup the whole Outlook Personal Folders in 
> one .pst file, but because of the Calendar problem it didn't import my 
> Contacts.  So I backed up the Contacts file separately and was able to 
> import it easily.  Where I have found instability - tried to add 
> additional email accounts and Outlook crashed and disappeared.  Was 
> typing an email (actually this report so it was lengthy) and it crashed 
> and exited.  It should be noted that CodeWeavers has said that Outlook 
> is still buggy.  They are extremely upfront about any shortcomings in 
> CXOffice.  I'm working with their tech support on the Outlook problems, 
> but I think we all agree that true stability may not be available until 
> a later version.
> 
> So basically, as soon as we get the color printing issue in Word 
> resolved, I'm using Word and Excel just like I did in Windows.  I must 
> say I'm incredibly impressed with font handling.  Fonts appear onscreen 
> and print out exactly as they do in Windows.  Totally cool.  As for 
> Outlook, I'm still using Kmail (which is OK, but I hate the 
> addressbook) and KOrganizer, (which is also OK).  I'm committed to 
> CXOffice and am happy to wait for the Outlook bugs to get ironed out.
> 
> Now, I _must_ add praise to the skies for CodeWeavers tech support.  
> These people are incredibly awesome.  The response to problems is 
> amazing.  Even as I'm typing this, there is another email from them 
> regarding the Word printing issue.  There have been at least 10 emails 
> a day back and forth on all the issues.  I have never seen better tech 
> support - or any other kind of support - in my life.  I simply cannot 
> say enough nice things about the good people at CodeWeavers.
> 
> So there you have it.  I consider CXOffice to be well worth it and plan 
> to continue to support it.
> 
> I hope this was useful to some of you.  Let me know if you want to know 
> anything else.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Malke
> 


-- 
Linda J Laubenheimer - UNIX Geek, Sysadmin, Bibliophile and Iconoclast
http://www.modusvarious.net/ - consultants available
http://www.laubenheimer.net/ - personal demo site
http://www.geocities.com/laubenheimer/ - web design gaffes (I wouldn't
disgrace a real ISP with these) and rants about bad design.




More information about the Techtalk mailing list