Running Linux, 5th Edition - Matthias Kalle Dalheimer [491]
CrossOver Office can be ordered and downloaded directly from CodeWeavers' web site. You have the option of downloading an RPM installer for Red Hat, SUSE, and other RPM-based distributions, a custom Debian installer, or a Loki-based installer. The Loki-based installer is the preferred method because it can be run entirely in user space.
After downloading the Loki-based installer, be sure to set the execute bit (chmod +x) on the installer script. Then you just need to run the following script:
$ ./install-crossover-standard-5.0.sh
The script will first unpack CrossOver Office and walk you through the installation. At the end it gives you the option to install Windows software. This launches the cxoffice/bin/cxsetup configuration tool and gives you a list of supported software you can install. This wizard-like tool will walk you through the process of installing the software and perform any additional steps necessary, such as restarting Wine to simulate a Windows reboot. You can also choose to install unsupported software. CrossOver Office runs many other applications besides the officially supported ones, and you may find your favorite Windows application works better with CrossOver Office than regular old Wine.
Regardless of whether you choose to install supported or unsupported software, you'll be prompted next for the location of the installation file. You can choose from either your vendor CD-ROM or a setup program on your hard drive. Some of the supported software will install automatically, but other software may require the installation program to run. When installation is complete, a simulated reboot of Wine is performed and menu entries are made for your desktop. Your desktop panel—KDE's Kicker or GNOME's Panel--will contain a new entry called Windows Applications that leads to the programs installed by CrossOver Office.
To configure CrossOver Office, navigate to the CrossOver menu in your desktop's panel and choose Configuration. You'll then be presented with the tab-based cxsetup dialog giving you options to Add/Remove programs or Manage Bottles. The first option allows you to manage applications, including the use of the Install button to launch the installation wizard described earlier.
The second option, Manage Bottles, allows you to customize aspects of CrossOver Office. Bottles are self-contained directories for sets of installed applications, each holding a complete Wine configuration. After selecting a bottle from the list available, you click on the Configure button to edit things such as menus, set file associations, configure plug-ins, add fonts, open control panel apps, and change bottle settings. Each tab contains a Help button in case you get stuck.
VMware Workstation
VMware (now owned by EMC) distributes proprietary products that permit the running of virtual operating systems on servers and workstations.[*] The workstation product has achieved a certain popularity by aiding people who want to run different operating systems on their computer desktop; among other things, they can run licensed versions of many different Windows operating systems on Linux. VMware Workstation also sees much use in development and testing. Many claim that it accelerates application deployment.
So what does it actually do?
VMware Workstation 5 allows multiple operating systems and applications to run at the same time on a single physical computer. If you have enough RAM, a decent hard drive, and a modern CPU, VMware performs well.
Figure 28-1 provides a look at VMware Workstation running on Novell Linux Desktop 9 with Windows XP Home Edition installed. This should give you an idea of what you can expect to see if you use this product. Notice on the top of the toolbar that an icon lets you select a full-screen mode. This option makes