vm fusion: is office suitable on it?

[turnstylez18]

i was thinking of getting iwork 08 but i may have some compatability issues since i am in university....

so i was thinking of getting vmware installing office 2003 (which i already have)...is this a good idea? would it work properly? also...i dont understand virtual machines...would i be able to save my work from office? etc...

ive read up on it...but i only get a gist of it...

should i go with this route? or just stick with iwork? i dont know if i could wait another semester for office 08..

thanks

 

[turnstylez18]

also it is a good idea to even run office on vm ware? i will be writing long papers...

so will i be better off just not running vmware?

 

[Ogie Ogilthorpe]

VM Fusion

I have been using VM Fusion in it's beta and now full version. I have run Office XP and 2007 with no problems. Although I am not a big Microsoft fan, unfortunately, most of the business world is, and there are some things I need to use it with.

 

[turnstylez18]

i really dont know what to do...im leaning towards iwork and waiting for office 08....

reason is that im scared vm ware will slow down my computer or something and the risk of viruses entering the my comp....

but then again..i am a business student but office is needed...

 

[in-ten-city]

hey i am also a university student and i just installed office 2007 through vmware fusion and it works great! i also have iworks 07', and i must say that while it runs well and does basic things, and also is able to read most office files very well and transfer over the formatting, the functionality in iworks is stil very lacking, and being that you are are studying finances, excel is really the standard for that, and excel 07 is a really great program. fusion doesnt slow down the computer much and you wont see any performance decline as long as you arent runnning tens of programs at a time or running graphics intensive software. i would just recommend that if u are worried about speed and go with vmware, install windows xp and not vista as vista will slow down your computer more. as to whether or not to wait for office 08, id say your better off with fusion because of the occasional windows only based task a proffesor will ask you to do. its great to have windows on the computer, especially through vmware which allows it to run at really close to native speed (unless of course your are doing graphic intensive 3d work). good luck! what university do u go 2?

 

[turnstylez18]

im still undecided....when saving work on vmware..example a word document..does it save on os x..or on the windows xp partition?

 

[SupadudeX]

It saves the file on your virtual hard drive which is located on your OSX partition. The file can be shared through a network drive in the virtual machine which will make it accessible on both the virtual hard drive and OSX. In a lot of ways a virtual machine is safer than running windows natively. Mainly because you can make very quick and easy backups of the entire virtual hard drive. You can take snapshots and roll back if something goes wrong as well.

A virtual machine is just a piece of software that emulates the hardware so that the virtual operating system doesnt know it is running in software. This has the added benefit of protecting your OSX partition from any harm that a windows virtual machine install can do.

Depending on how much RAM you have VMware will run great. I recommend 2 gigs of RAM for running the virtual machine very well. On new intel macs you should see almost no performance difference between a native install and the virtual machine. Games are the only exception.

I highly recommend VMWare it has been invaluable to me. I consistently run Windows and Linux and the same time.

 

[turnstylez18]

i only have 1 gig here....and im really on a budget...

if i go the vm route...i have to pay for that, xp, office and upgrade my ram...
that is a lot for me...at the time...

maybe ill just wait until i get more money and get iwork for now...its a lot of money just to run office...and i have only a year left...

options r still open though

 

[boobooq88]

If you don't have a Windows install disk already I would suggest (to save money) you get Crossover Office. Its a program that allows you to run windows software without having windows installed.

However... If you have a Windows disk already I'd say to just go ahead and get VMWare as it should perform better and may be more practical in the long run. And yes... installing MS Office and typing and saving papers over Fusion should be just fine.

 

[SupadudeX]

yeah if money is tight then vmware might not be the best. You can probably run the vm with only 1 gig of ram, but swapping between the VM and OSX might be slow.

 

[turnstylez18]

i think im going to wait until software improves on implementing windows to mac...
crossover seems like a good idea...but i dont want to take a risk of the program messing up (as i read from their forums regarding office 2003)

and i just cant afford vm ware...and xp plus extra...maybe in the next year i will do this...cuz i would love to use vm ware for simple games...

i guess i have to take it and use iwork...hopefully office 08 will also benefit me and be 100% compatible once it comes out

thanks

 

[Ogie Ogilthorpe]

Open Office

The other option if you're looking for an inexpensive (it's free) office is to use open office http://www.openoffice.org

you will need to install the X11 option (it comes with mac os)

i have also used open office and have had no problems with it

 

[Roy Hobbs]

The other option if you're looking for an inexpensive (it's free) office is to use open office http://www.openoffice.org

you will need to install the X11 option (it comes with mac os)

i have also used open office and have had no problems with it

Try NeoOffice instead, based on openoffice but doesnt not require X11

 

[The Stig]

I installed Office 2007 on my VMware and it seems to run fine, but I haven't played with it really. I have office for Mac and I use that more.

The Stig

 

[Sean Dempsey]

VMWare is great.

It works like windows, so your questions are redundant.

Install XP, Office, and you're fine. You can drag/drop files from the windows desktop to OSX and back. Easiest thing in the world

On an unrelated note, you might want to check out bittorent clients also. I hear you can get some great rebates on software.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

Oh and BTW, when I switched to Mac in July, I just started using Google Docs for everything. Might want to try that.

 

[turnstylez18]

i would love the vmware route...but money is an issue right now...
i got enough for iwork....so ill probably get that...
if i have compatability issues...i will try neooffice...and i also have another windows laptop which i can use

 

[iBunny]

I would rather get VM ware and run Office. But thats just me.

There is no substitute for MS Officer unfortunately.

 

[turnstylez18]

does it matter if i hvae a (bootleg) copy of office 2003 and xp? btw...where can i get vm ware in canada
i keep going back and forth...but i will get vmware in the near future..i do want it but its soo much money at the time..just not now...ill get iwork for the time being since i need a word processor and keynote would help me...

when the time comes....probably around jan...ill decide between office 2008 and vmware/xp/office 2003(7)

thanks...

 

[SupadudeX]

does it matter if i hvae a (bootleg) copy of office 2003 and xp? btw...where can i get vm ware in canada

If you can get it to work natively. It will work with vmware. Just order off their web site to buy it. You can download it or they will mail you a retail copy.

 

[SupadudeX]

On an unrelated note, you might want to check out bittorent clients also. I hear you can get some great rebates on software.

Great rebates on bit torrent?! What are you trying to insinuate?

 

[SupadudeX]

i would love the vmware route...but money is an issue right now...
i got enough for iwork....so ill probably get that...
if i have compatability issues...i will try neooffice...and i also have another windows laptop which i can use

Neooffice and open office always seem to have compatibility problems with office, usually formatting issues and some images dont get transfer correctly. If you use them without interacting with MS they work great otherwise. In some situations there is no replacement for office for compatibility. I use office in VMWare personally.

 

[sushi]

i guess i have to take it and use iwork...hopefully office 08 will also benefit me and be 100% compatible once it comes out

You mentioned that you are a business student.

Get Office 2007 for the PC. That way you will be able to run and edit all Macros / VB code.

Office 2008 will not support this.

 

[turnstylez18]

well i am in 4th year...my last year...and ive been able to get through school with office 2003...ive only used excel once...and i only know the basics...and it has got me far...all i truly need is a good word processor and something to view powerpoints...

it seems like everyone is telling me not go with iwork...
im from canada..so prices will be a bit higher...if i get a brand new xp, office 2007 and vm ware..that may cost me up to 300...
and im only running 1gb ram...

ive been reading on their forums that some ppl have had problems installing office...that it keeps asking for the key for activation..is this issue still occuring? i just dont want anything on my mac to slow down etc....

 

[danny_w]

If you are a college student then you can probably just get Office 2004 (Mac) student edition quite cheaply and run it natively. Yes, I understand it is not universal and requires Rosetta, but it will probably still be faster than VMWare / XP / Office, esp. with only 1GB of RAM.