installing on existing windows xp

Asked by theSaint

I'm very new to this. I have XP SP2. Do I install over it and will software that I have on XP work on ubuntu?

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hero_19873
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hero_19873 (hero-19873) said :
#1

hi pal
u have to boot from an ubuntu cd and install system
after installing u will find windows xp on OS choise menu

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theSaint (sanjeet-saikia) said :
#2

Thanks hero_19873. Sorry, I wasn't too clear on my question. Basically, I want to know if I can replace windows XP with ubuntu and still be able to use programs like MS Word, Excel etc?
Thanks

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Jonty (jonnty) said :
#3

Well, you have a number of options for this. Firstly, you could dual boot, shrinking your Windows partition and creating a new Ubuntu one, and then using Grub to switch between the two.

However, if you want to do what you suggest, and try running Windows software on Ubuntu, you'll have to use some sort of emulation technology (Windows apps don't run on Linux natively.) Wine (http://www.winehq.com/) is the most popular and free, but doesn't run all apps flawlessly. Check the site for things it runs well.

You might want to try CrossOver as well (http://www.codeweavers.com/), it's good, particularly for Office.

You've also got the option of virtualisation - running Windows inside a virtual machine running on Linux, but that's probably too complex and unneccesary.

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Luca Falavigna (dktrkranz) said :
#4

If you want to use program such as Office, you can use OpenOffice, which is a suite of programs very similar to Microsot solution. There are tons of programs which are not the ones you use under Windows, but they have the same features and ease of use.
GNU/Linux currently lacks gaming support so, if you plan to play with Windows games, you will have to face some difficulties.

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theSaint (sanjeet-saikia) said :
#5

Thank you for your responses. I really do appreciate your time. One last question (I hope). Is it possible to open up MS office files on OpenOffice and can you save OpenOffice files in MS formats and vice versa? Thanks again.

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Luca Falavigna (dktrkranz) said :
#6

Of course. Normally OpenOffice saves his files as OpenDocument, but you can choose amongst several formats, including Microsoft Office.

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Raphael J. Schmid (raphael-j-schmid) said :
#7

Yup, possible.

In practice, some documents will look a bit different (often it's only missing fonts; try installing the 'msttcorefonts' package in that case and see if it helps) in OpenOffice.org than they do in Microsoft Office. I have yet to find a document that doesn't work at all though.

-- Raphael

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Juan Andrés Vaccaro (zaffe) said :
#8

OpenOffice is multiplatform, so you can test it under windows too.

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theSaint (sanjeet-saikia) said :
#9

Thank you my friends. Those were the answers I was hoping for.